Sanctions no obstacle as Iranians get their iPads

Although there were no lines of eager customers forming outside computer stores in Tehran on the day that Apple's iPad was introduced to the world last year, the tablet computer -- the newest global must-have gadget -- has quietly appeared in Iranian shops, despite tightened sanctions. On a recent winter's evening, the swank Paitakht Computer Center in northern Tehran was packed with young, technology-savvy Iranians looking for the latest digital products for work or fun. And products made by Apple -- the technology giant from a country that Iran labels as the ''Great Satan'' and that has led the drive to isolate Iran economically - were attracting more shoppers than anything else in the multistory electronics emporium.