An afternoon in Yazd
You step out of the wind-tower courtyard and the camera-translator on a tiled inscription has been waiting for the network to come back. The host wants to know if you've eaten, the next-day Tehran flight wants confirmation in the airline app, and the offline Snapp ride-hail booking won't complete without three bars. None of that needed a "tourist pack." It needed a counter that runs while you're connected and stops when you're not.
Roamzy charges $7.17 per gigabyte in Iran. That's $0.007 per megabyte, billed in real time on Iranian networks. No subscription. No expiry on the unused balance. No minimum bundle. One per-MB rate across 192 countries means the same model — pay for what you used, balance carries.
Why the eSIM model fits Iran specifically
Iran's payment infrastructure is largely cut off from the international card system: foreign Visa and Mastercard don't reliably charge inside the country, ATMs don't dispense from foreign accounts, and most travelers carry cash that they exchange in Tehran. A travel eSIM that is paid for in stablecoins outside Iran sidesteps that entirely — the top-up happens before you fly, the counter runs in real time once you land, and the balance carries between trips. The international roaming arrangement also means the cellular service runs on a foreign network's infrastructure, which behaves predictably on the consumer's side.
How much will Roamzy actually cost on this trip?
A typical visitor uses 0.5–1 GB per day: maps in Tehran and the historical cities, the camera-translator on Persian script (essential — Farsi script is genuinely opaque if you don't read it), Snapp or Tap30 in the cities, voice notes home, the airline-app for the domestic short-hops between Tehran and Shiraz or Isfahan. Call it 0.8 GB/day:
| Trip length | Roamzy ($7.17/GB) | Tourist roaming pass | Local SIM at IKA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 days (Tehran + Isfahan) | $28.67 | $30–80 | $5–15 + KYC and a passport scan |
| 10 days (full Silk Road circuit) | $57.34 | $60–160 | $10–25 + paperwork |
| 2 weeks | $80.28 | $100–220 (often two passes) | $15–35 + 30-day cap |
Competitor prices in columns 3 and 4 are 2025 ranges based on typical offerings; many home carriers either don't list Iran in tourist packs or charge unmetered roaming. Roamzy's rate in column 2 is our actual published rate from the pricing page.
A local Iranian SIM is sold to foreigners at IKA and major airports, registration is straightforward, and the per-byte rate inside the country is competitive — for a multi-week stay it makes sense. For a typical one- to two-week visit, the eSIM is the simpler answer.
Where does Roamzy work in this country?
- Tehran (Velenjak, Vanak, the Grand Bazaar area) — 4G/LTE across the metropolitan area, with 5G in the central districts
- Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Mashhad, Tabriz — solid LTE in the historic centers and modern districts
- The Caspian coast (Rasht, Ramsar) — 4G in the towns, weaker on mountain switchbacks
- Persepolis, Pasargadae, the historic ruins — signal at the visitor centers and on the access roads
- The Lut and Dasht-e Kavir deserts — patchy at populated waypoints, sparse in the open
- Border corridors — last 20–30 km before Türkiye, Iraq, Armenia, or Pakistan often have weak signal
Domestic flights between Tehran and the historic cities are short and reliable; the eSIM re-attaches on landing.
How do I install my Roamzy eSIM?
| Plug type | Voltage | Frequency | iOS | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type C, F | 230 V | 50 Hz | iPhone XS+ | Pixel 3+, Galaxy S20+ |
- Sign in to Roamzy via Telegram or Google
- Top up with a minimum of 20 USDT — stablecoins, no cards, no banks, no FX surcharges
- The QR code appears in the dashboard once payment confirms
- Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → scan QR (on home Wi-Fi before flying — this is genuinely important for Iran since some installation servers don't reach reliably from inside the country)
- The counter starts when you land at Tehran Imam Khomeini (IKA), Mehrabad (THR), or any other gateway
Stablecoin payment is the practical option here — the dashboard top-up runs on USDT regardless of where you're standing. Setup edge cases are in the FAQ.
What are Roamzy's honest limitations?
Iran is one of the more sanctioned consumer markets, which makes the payment side of any travel service genuinely complicated. We don't pretend to fix sanctions; we run on a foreign-roaming arrangement that ignores the domestic banking situation. What we guarantee:
- No welcome promo that flips on the second top-up. Top-up #1 and top-up #20 cost the same per megabyte.
- No fine-print throttling. One rate, full speed — first GB and the tenth both cost $0.007/MB.
- No auto-renewal. Balance runs out, the eSIM stops.
What if my route continues across the region?
- Türkiye — overland west via Bazargan or Tabriz, separate country rate
- Iraq — overland into Iraqi Kurdistan, common rotation for the region
- If you want the underlying mechanics — how roaming actually gets priced and why it hurts