Iran’s Defense Ministry export body is offering cryptocurrency payments for military contracts, signaling a new way to bypass sanctions on arms sales.
Iran’s Defense Ministry Export Center, known as Mindex, is offering the ability to pay contracts in the form of cryptocurrency, “agreed upon in the contract,” the website states in its frequently asked questions section, verified by The Jerusalem Post on Thursday evening.
According to the London-based outlet, The Financial Times, the offer appeared sometime within the past year.
The outlet noted that this “appears to mark one of the first known instances in which a nation state has publicly indicated its willingness to accept cryptocurrency as payment for the export of strategic military hardware.”
The Mindex website’s products section does not list prices, but includes categories such as “Rocket and Missile,” “Aviation,” “Military Vehicles,” “Propellant and High Explosives,” and others.
The Mindex website’s frequently asked questions section addresses concerns that purchasers may have about sanctions on Iran.
Iranian missiles are displayed during the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, February 10, 2025. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA)
“Given the sanctions on Iran, what is the guarantee that the contract will be executed and the product will reach the destination country?” the website asks.
“The necessary guarantees will be given to the buyer at the time of signing the contract. It should be noted that, given the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding circumvention of sanctions, there is no problem in implementing the contract. Your purchased product will reach you as soon as possible,” the answer reads.
Iran has been known to attempt to use cryptocurrency to fund the regime amid intensifying sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iranian regime’s history of links with cryptocurrency as sanctions evasion strategy
In September, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing ordered the seizure of 187 crypto wallets it claimed belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In December, an INSS report emerged detailing how the IRGC’s Quds Force built a sophisticated, law-evading mechanism to support its aviation and weapons smuggling industries.
This included Iranian airlines, such as Mahan Air and Qeshm Air, which IRGC-QF operates, being used to transport weapons on ostensibly civilian flights.
In June, anti-regime hacktivist group “Gonjeshke Darande” (Predatory Sparrow) announced that it stole $48 million in cryptocurrency belonging to the regime, which was being used to fund terror activities.
However, such use of Iranian cryptocurrency has not emerged only in the past 12 months. In June 2023, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered the seizure of millions of dollars belonging to IRGC-QF and Hezbollah, in what was then the largest seizure of cryptocurrency from the terror groups to date.
Yonah Jeremy Bob, Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff, and Reuters contributed to this report.
