{"id":216345,"date":"2026-01-02T09:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216345\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:33:20","slug":"iran-offers-to-sell-advanced-weapons-systems-for-crypto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216345\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran offers to sell advanced weapons systems for crypto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n

Iran is offering to sell advanced weapons systems including ballistic missiles, drones and warships to foreign governments for cryptocurrency, in an attempt to use digital assets to bypass western financial controls.<\/p>\n

Iran<\/a>\u2019s Ministry of Defence Export Center, known as Mindex, says it is prepared to negotiate military contracts that allow payment in digital currencies, as well as through barter arrangements and Iranian rials, according to promotional documents and payment terms analysed by the Financial Times.<\/p>\n

The offer, introduced during the past year, appears to mark one of the first known instances in which a nation state has publicly indicated its willingness to accept cryptocurrency<\/a> as payment for the export of strategic military hardware.<\/p>\n

Mindex, a state-run body responsible for Iran\u2019s overseas defence sales, says it has client relationships with 35 countries and advertises a catalogue of weapons that includes Emad ballistic missiles, Shahed drones, Shahid Soleimani-class warships and short-range air defence systems.<\/p>\n

Its website, which is available in multiple languages, also lists small arms, rockets and anti-ship cruise missiles, some of which have been used by Iran<\/a>-backed militant groups in the Middle East, according to western governments and UN reporting.<\/p>\n

\"TheMindex website featuring a Shahed drone \u00a9 Mindex<\/p>\n

The FT verified the site\u2019s authenticity using archived versions, registration data and a review of its technical infrastructure, which is hosted on an Iranian domestic cloud service under sanctions by the US Treasury, and described by Washington as having close ties to Iran\u2019s intelligence services.<\/p>\n

Mindex say buyers must agree to conditions about how weapons would be used \u201cduring a war with another country\u201d, although it adds such terms are \u201cnegotiable between the contracting parties\u201d.<\/p>\n

The export centre operates an online portal and virtual chatbot to guide prospective customers through the purchasing process. A \u201cfrequently asked questions\u201d section addresses concerns about sanctions, asking: \u201cGiven the sanctions on Iran, what is the guarantee that the contract will be executed and the product will reach the destination country?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d the response says. \u201cYour purchased product will reach you as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

While prices are not publicly listed, the site says payment can also be arranged in the destination country and offers in-person inspection of goods in Iran, \u201csubject to approval from security authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The move comes amid growing evidence that countries facing extensive US and European sanctions are using cryptocurrency and other alternative financial channels to sustain trade in sensitive goods. <\/p>\n

Washington has taken action against Russian entities for using cryptocurrencies to evade western sanctions. <\/p>\n

\"AIran\u2019s Majid short-range air defence system \u00a9 Mindex<\/p>\n

Parties paying Iran using conventional finance risk being blocked from western-based financial systems as a result of US, EU and UK sanctions.<\/p>\n

US authorities have previously accused Iran of using digital assets to facilitate oil sales and move hundreds of millions of dollars outside the formal banking system.<\/p>\n

In September, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on individuals it said were linked to Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards for operating a \u201cshadow banking\u201d network that used cryptocurrencies to process payments on behalf of Tehran.<\/p>\n

The disclosures also come as western powers seek to tighten pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme. In August, Britain, France and Germany triggered a UN mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on Iran after diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations with the US collapsed.<\/p>\n

Iran ranked 18th in the world for major arms exports in 2024, behind Norway and Australia, according to the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic Council said in 2024 Iran was well positioned to benefit from Russia\u2019s inability to export the same level of arms as it did before as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-216345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}