Iran country code +98 — call Iran & get a number.
Iran keeps its own time — literally, on a rare half-hour clock — and dialing in has its own rules too. This guide lays out exact formats from the US, UK and the Gulf, every major area code, current mobile prefixes, live time & weather, plus an honest look at how businesses obtain an Iranian virtual number with MCM under today's sanctions landscape.
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Iran at a glance
The numbers and facts you need before you dial.
What is the country code for Iran?
Iran sits under +98. Dial it right after your exit code to land on any Tehran landline or Iranian mobile from overseas. Domestically, numbers wear a leading 0 trunk prefix — but that 0 is house-only. The moment you go international, drop it and let +98 take its place.
Code +98 was assigned to Iran by the ITU under the E.164 plan. The “+” means “dial your local international exit code”; on a mobile, press and hold 0 to type it.
All four mean the same thing — they connect your call to Iran.
How to call Iran from anywhere
Four moves: your exit code, then 98, then the area code or mobile prefix with its domestic 0 stripped off, then the subscriber digits.
Full example: +98 21 XXX XXXX — drop the local leading 0 when calling from abroad.
Iran phone number format explained
Strip the trunk 0 and an Iranian number runs 10 national digits (11 with the 0 in place). Up front sits either a 2-digit city code or a 3-digit mobile prefix; behind it trails a 7- or 8-digit subscriber number.
Landline
:
Mobile
:
Iran area codes — major cities
Drop the local leading 0 when calling from abroad.
| City | Region | Area code |
|---|---|---|
| Tehran | Tehran | 21 |
| Mashhad | Razavi Khorasan | 51 |
| Isfahan | Isfahan | 31 |
| Shiraz | Fars | 71 |
| Tabriz | East Azerbaijan | 41 |
| Karaj | Alborz | 26 |
| Qom | Qom | 25 |
| Ahvaz | Khuzestan | 61 |
| Kerman | Kerman | 34 |
| Rasht | Gilan | 13 |
| Yazd | Yazd | 35 |
| Urmia | West Azerbaijan | 44 |
Iran mobile network prefixes
The prefix after +98 tells you which network issued the SIM — though number portability means it no longer guarantees the operator.
Hamrah-e Aval / MCI (Mobile Communication Company of Iran)
MTN Irancell
RighTel
Iran time zone
Here's Iran's signature quirk: it runs on Iran Standard Time (IRST), UTC+3:30 — a half-hour offset that puts it out of step with nearly every neighbour. And since 2022, when Iran scrapped daylight saving for good, that +3:30 holds steady all year long, with no spring-forward, no fall-back. Schedule on the half-hour and you'll never be thirty minutes off.
Tehran runs ahead of both Europe and the Americas, so aim early in their day. UK mornings line up with roughly 12:00–16:00 in Tehran; for the US East Coast, late afternoon in Tehran (16:00–18:00) reaches them as the workday begins. Just remember to pencil in the :30 — Iran's half-hour offset trips up calendar invites that assume whole hours.
Common mistakes when calling Iran
Almost every failed international call is a formatting issue, not a network issue.
Misreading the half-hour clock: Iran's defining oddity is UTC+3:30, not a tidy whole hour
book on the :30 or you'll be exactly thirty minutes adrift.
Still adding a summer hour: Iran retired DST in 2022, so the clocks no longer move
treat +3:30 as permanent.
Keeping the leading 0: don't write +98 021
that domestic trunk 0 comes off the moment +98 goes on, leaving +98 21.
Reaching for 011 outside North America: that's the US/Canada exit code; most of the world dials 00
Reaching for 011 outside North America: that's the US/Canada exit code; most of the world dials 00.
Mixing up mobile and landline: mobiles open 09 with a 3-digit prefix, while city landlines use 2-digit codes
Mixing up mobile and landline: mobiles open 09 with a 3-digit prefix, while city landlines use 2-digit codes.
Tips to reduce the cost of calling Iran
Route calls through VoIP or a virtual number to dodge the steep per-minute rates carriers charge for Iran.
Connect over Wi-Fi via a VoIP app and roaming surcharges simply don't apply.
Where availability allows, hold an Iranian DID so local contacts reach you at a domestic rate.
Plan around that UTC+3:30 half-hour offset so calls connect on the first try instead of the third.
Why businesses get a Iran virtual number
For teams reaching into Iran, a familiar +98 line lowers the barrier — contacts recognise it, pick it up, and your global team handles the call wherever they are. One honest caveat first: international sanctions shape what's actually available, so treat eligibility as something to confirm, not assume.
Higher answer rates
A local line gets answered where a foreign caller ID gets screened.
Lower trust friction
A +98 number reads as a real in-country presence.
Cheaper inbound
Your Iranian contacts dial a domestic number.
Centralized routing
Steer Iranian calls to teams anywhere on the map.
Faster expansion
Build a footprint without standing up local infrastructure.
Real PSTN presence
Genuine geographic DIDs, never gray routes.
Iran virtual numbers with My Country Mobile
Subject to sanctions and availability, provision Iranian local DIDs and route them anywhere across My Country Mobile's carrier-grade network.
Local DIDs in major area codes — provisioned in minutes
Call forwarding to any mobile, landline, SIP endpoint, or softphone worldwide
HD voice with G.711, G.729, Opus & AMR-WB — auto-negotiated per call
Sub-150ms latency on major voice corridors via distributed PoPs
99.99% uptime SLA backed by geo-redundant infrastructure & sub-2s failover
WebRTC support for browser-based calling without softphone installs
REST APIs for provisioning, routing & call detail records (CDRs)
Built-in fraud protection with AI anomaly detection & STIR/SHAKEN
24/7 network monitoring and dedicated support
How to get your Iran virtual number
Most businesses are live within hours, not days.
Choose your Iranian city and area code (Tehran 21, for example), where availability allows.
Select a plan, then clear the required documentation and sanctions-eligibility checks.
Configure routing, forwarding and your team.
Go live and start fielding Iranian calls.
Other country dialing guides
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Iran +98 — FAQ
Q: Why is Iran's time zone half an hour off everyone else?expand_more
A: Iran runs on UTC+3:30, one of the world's few half-hour offsets — so when you schedule, use the :30 and don't assume a whole-hour difference.
Q: Does Iran still switch its clocks in summer?expand_more
A: No — Iran abolished daylight saving in 2022, so IRST stays fixed at UTC+3:30 year-round with no spring or autumn change.
Q: Can I actually get an Iranian virtual number?expand_more
A: It depends — international sanctions and carrier policy constrain availability, so confirm current eligibility with MCM rather than assuming a number can be issued.
Q: Do I drop the 0 when calling Iran?expand_more
A: Yes — the leading 0 is a domestic-only trunk prefix; remove it after +98 (so it's +98 21, not +98 021).
Q: What do Iranian mobile numbers start with?expand_more
A: 09 domestically (0912, 0935, and so on); internationally that becomes +98 912…
Q: How do I call Iran from the US?expand_more
A: Dial 011, then 98, then the area code or mobile prefix with its 0 removed, then the number.
Q: What is Tehran's area code?expand_more
A: 21 — dialed as 021 inside Iran, and +98 21 from abroad.
Q: How many digits is an Iranian phone number?expand_more
A: 10 national digits once the trunk 0 is stripped (11 with it).