I’m not sure if Apple should be flattered or nervous that nations like the United Arab Emirates – which as far as I know was not expected to get the iPhone any time soon – already are fretting over how to handle its arrival.

Today an item in Gulfnews.com reports that the UAE, a small but wealthy nation on the coast of the Persian Gulf, has a law similar to one in France that makes locking a mobile phone to a single carrier illegal. From the Gulfnews.com article: “The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has said that it will not allow any company to establish an exclusive right to iPhone services with either of the two licensed telecom operators in the UAE.”

That makes two countries so far with laws forbidding cell phones locked to one carrier. It stands to reason there are others. As Apple rolls out the iPhone throughout the world in the coming weeks and months, it will find selling an unlocked version a necessity in more and more places. And once Apple starts selling unlocked iPhones anywhere, it will get much harder for Apple to defend selling locked phones, particularly here in the United States.

Adding to the pressure will be folks buying unlocked iPhones in countries where they are available and transporting them for profit to those where they are not. At some point Apple almost certainly will have to give in and sell unlocked iPhones everywhere.