TEHRAN - An Iranian official said on Tuesday that Iran may enact punitive measures against Samsung after the company decided to impose restrictions on Iranian users, the Press TV reported.

Samsung currently holds more than a half of the Iranian mobile phone market

Iran could refuse the entry of Samsung executives and staff and even impose a partial ban on the registry of Samsung mobile phones on the Iranian mobile phone network, Na'nakar was quoted as saying, said Mohammad Jafar Na'nakar, who heads the legal department at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

He said that the ICT had urged Samsung to revise its bans on sale of applications to Iranian users on the Galaxy Store.

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"If this is not reconsidered, there are legal tools on our side that would enable us to counter this measure," the Iranian official added.

Na'nakar said that Samsung's restrictions on Iranians' access to the Galaxy Store, which is due to be enforced in early March, would create massive difficulties for app developers and businesses in Iran.

Local reports said that Samsung and LG Electronics pulled down their last advertisement banners in Iran on Friday. The two ROK companies have recently cut their trade relations with Tehran over  sanctions imposed on Iran.

Samsung currently holds more than a half of the Iranian mobile phone market.  

On Saturday, Iran's Foreign Ministry decried what it called "compliance" of foreign companies with the US sanctions.

The foreign companies leaving the country over the US sanctions would not be able to return to the country's market easily, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

Meeting of US senator with Iranian FM

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday confirmed the recent meeting of the Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with the US Sen Chris Murphy.

A group of Democratic senators led by Murphy met with Zarif in Germany on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.

"These measures are parts of Iran's general diplomacy," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said on Tuesday.

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In the meetings with some US lawmakers, Zarif explained the positions of the Islamic republic and facts about the regional issues, Mousavi said.  

US President Donald Trump suggested that Murphy could have violated a federal law that forbids unauthorized US citizens from negotiating with foreign governments in a dispute with the United States.