Much of the sanctions-covered American products arrive via networks in Asia in which buyers legally purchase U.S. goods and then reship them to Iran. Previously, the primary route was through Dubai, but authorities in the United Arab Emirates have significantly stepped up inspections of Iran-bound cargo for possible U.S. sanctions violations.

‘‘Dubai is like a hypermarket for Iran,’’ Ahmed Butti Ahmed, executive chairman and director general at Dubai Customs, said in April.

A Tehran-based technology industry analyst, Jafar Tehrani, said the UAE is still a main jump-off point for iPhones and other Apple products coming to Iran.

‘‘Technology does not recognize borders. Apple is very popular in Iran, and customers have no problem except after-sale services,’’ said Tehrani.

This is where hackers such as 23-year-old Amir comes in. He charges between $5 and $10 to ‘‘jailbreak’’ an iPhone to work on Iran’s domestic mobile network. ‘‘I have 10 to 15 customers every day,’’ said Amir, who gave only his first name because reprogramming the phones is illegal.

That’s about the same number of daily sales of Apple laptops and iPhones at Mansour Ahadi’s electronics store in the Tehran digital mall.

‘‘We import them from neighboring countries simply because there is a high demand,’’ he said.

But there are clear pressures. A nosedive in the value of the Iranian rial — which hit an all-time low against the dollar this week — has sharply raised the cost of imports. This has almost doubled prices of many imported items from cosmetics to cell phones to spare parts of cars.

For Iran’s extensive middle class — many with university degrees and near Western-standard lifestyles — the blows to their buying power could bring more heat on authorities as they try to ride out sanctions.

Amir, the iPhone jail-breaker, summed up his slice of Americana in the middle of Tehran: ‘‘I earn from Apple, I drink Coke and I dream of buying a Ford Mustang.’’

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