State calls in the army over Irancell saga

The controversy surrounding the prospective launch of Turkcell’s Iranian cellco Irancell has taken yet another twist with a hard-line political watchdog ruling that the Iranian armed forces should be consulted over the security aspects of granting a mobile licence to the Turkish company. The decision was made as Iran’s Guardian’s Council studied legislation passed by the Conservative-controlled government requiring Turkcell to reduce its 70% holding in the cellco to a minority 49% to ease fears over potential breaches of national security. The deal will now be scrutinised by the Supreme National Security Council.