The title complex, [Cu(4)I(4)(C(21)H(15)N(3))(2)], lies on an inversion centre located at the centroid of a four-membered ring formed by one of the crystallographically independent Cu(I) ions and a triply bridging iodide ligand. The 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine (phterpy) ligand chelates each of the independent Cu(I) centres in a bidentate fashion, with the N atom of the central pyridyl ring bridging the two Cu(I) centres and those of the outer pyridyl rings binding the two independent Cu(I) ions individually to form a dinuclear system. These are further linked by triply-bridging I(-) anions to form the centrosymmetric tetra-nuclear units. One independent Cu atom binds to each of the inversion-related I(-) anions while the other coordinates to one bridging and one terminal monodentate iodide ligand. The outer pyridyl rings are twisted relative to the central pyridyl ring of the phterpy ligand with dihedral angles of 18.7 (1) and 35.6 (1)°, respectively.