Apple has reportedly started removing and deleting applications created by Iranian developers from its App Store, according to several media reports.

The move comes because of certain limitations stipulated in the US national law and is not related to any actions or executive orders issued by the current President Donald Trump administration, The Next Web noted, citing a source.

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"If the apps are from developers in Iran or doing business in Iran, Apple will reject them, as they are against US national law. So any rejection of apps on the App Store relating to Iran has nothing to do with any actions or executive orders by the current administration," a source said.

Digikala, the largest Iranian e-commerce service, has been one of the highest profile app to have been deleted. Iran's tech news site TechRasa reported that it went missing from the App Store a few days ago, and no official statement from Apple has been received yet.

Why Is Apple Removing Iranian Apps From the App Store? https://t.co/l4wVcsdpnv via @TechRasaCom @Apple #Iran #Startups #Apple #AppStore pic.twitter.com/LUlMdxiM3f

— TechRasa (@TechRasaCom) January 28, 2017

Although Apple does not have an official App store in Iran, it discreetly opened up to citizens last September, slowly lifting imposed limitations. Iranian developers were also able to bypass restrictions and gotten around access issue by registering outside of Iran, the Apple Insider reported.

Iranian developers said that Apple has been serving the following message to reject their submissions.

"Unfortunately, there is no App Store available for the territory of Iran. Additionally, apps facilitating transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran may not comply with the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (31CFR Part 560) when hosted on the App Store. For these reasons, we are unable to accept your application at this time. We encourage you to resubmit your application once international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality."

With this sanction at hand, TechRasa reported that several Iranian banks have sought for alternative ways to distribute its iOS apps without submitting an application to App Store or even requiring their consumers to jailbreak their iPhones.

For instance, the Shaparak payment system, used by Digikala, is isolated from other international payment processors. This permits transactions between users and businesses possible without dealing the sanction hurdle.

An estimated 40 million smartphones are being used by Iranians, and six million of which are iPhones. Rampant smuggling cases of iPhones, roughly about 100,000 devices per month, pushed the Iranian government to initiate actions to clamp down illegal imports.