My friend, film maker Ugo Massa, spotted a couple of payphones while exploring Isfahan city and Yazd, Iran. This one, which appears to be a credit-card only device, is on Naqsh-e Jahan square, which Mr. Massa describes as “one of the most beautiful place I’ve seen in my life.” Seen in the background is the historic 16th century mosque Masjed-e Shah.

Not only are payphones present but they actually work, and people were using them. This off duty service man was seen using a payphone in Yazd, in front of the Masjed-e Jameh.

I would not know where to get current statistics on Iran’s payphone population, as the English language website for the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) does not specify its payphone inventory, and stuffing their Persian language website through online translation tools turned up nothing related to the company’s public telephone network.

But as recently as 2015 the Financial Tribune reported there were 167,000 payphones nationwide with 31,000 in the capital city of Tehran. Numbers are sure to have declined since then, since TCI announced that the cost of operating the phones had finally exceeded the amount of revenue they brought in.

But still, if Ugo Massa’s payphone spotting is any indication then the phones that remain still seem to have their users.

The Financial Tribune story also mentions that some of the phones might be converted to WiFi portals or otherwise modernized.

Ugo and I go back a few years now, since he directed Hang Up, a payphone documentary in which I appeared. Like a lot of people who make my acquaintance Ugo has retained an eye for payphones, spotting them throughout his travels when prior to knowing me he might never have even noticed them. Some months back he also sent this photo of a payphone outside a grocery store in Fez, Morocco. Things like this make me wish I could travel more.