A 16-year-old Israeli’s iPhone that went missing at Dubai International Airport in July has surfaced months later in central Tehran, according to the device’s tracking application.
The phone belonged to Roy Solomon of Tel Aviv, whose family was returning from a vacation in Thailand and waiting for a layover in Dubai when it disappeared. Roy fell asleep with the new iPhone in his bag and only realized it was gone after the family arrived in Israel.
Using Apple’s tracking app, the family initially located the device inside Dubai’s airport and contacted the airport’s lost and found department by email. After about a month, they received a response saying a phone matching their description had been found and could be released if someone came with the device’s passcode.
In October, friends of Roy’s mother, Sharon Solomon, happened to be traveling through Dubai and went to the lost and found office with the passcode. The family said airport staff refused to hand over the phone or allow the friends to see it, despite what they described as prior assurances by phone and email from customer service.
Throughout that period, the tracking app continued to show the device inside the airport.
In recent days, however, Roy checked the app again and discovered the phone had moved to District 2 in central Tehran, not far from Mehrabad International Airport. The app displayed what appeared to be a precise address and an image of the building where the phone is currently located.
“My son didn’t even get a chance to upload the photos from his Thailand vacation to the cloud,” his mother Sharon said. “We hope that whoever is holding it in Iran will at least upload the photos so the memories won’t be erased.”
She said she does not know whether the phone was stolen or lost but noted that in correspondence, airport officials told the family an item matching their description had been found.
“I don’t understand the behavior of the customer service staff,” she said. “We sent friends to pick up the phone and they simply refused to cooperate. Many Israelis pass through that airport and don’t receive this kind of treatment.”