Iran is offering to sell ballistic missiles, drones, warships, and other advanced weapons systems to foreign governments in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency, the Financial Times reported.
According to promotional documents and payment terms reviewed by the FT, Iran’s 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.
The offer, introduced over the past year, appears to be one of the first known instances of a nation state publicly indicating willingness to accept cryptocurrency for the export of strategic military hardware, the newspaper said.
Mindex, a state-run body responsible for Iran’s overseas defense sales, claims client relationships with 35 countries and advertises a catalogue that includes Emad ballistic missiles, Shahed drones, Shahid Soleimani-class warships and short-range air defense systems, according to the FT. Its website also lists small arms, rockets and anti-ship cruise missiles, according to the report.
The FT said it verified the website’s authenticity using archived versions, registration data and a review of its technical infrastructure. The site is hosted on an Iranian domestic cloud service that is under U.S. sanctions, and which Washington has described as having close ties to Iran’s intelligence services, the newspaper reported.
Mindex’s terms include conditions about how weapons would be used “during a war with another country,” though it says those terms are “negotiable between the contracting parties,” according to the FT.
The export center operates an online portal and a virtual chatbot to guide prospective customers through purchases, the report said. A frequently asked questions section addresses sanctions risks, stating that, given Iran’s policies on circumventing sanctions, “there is no problem” executing contracts and that purchased products will reach buyers “as soon as possible,” the news outlet said.
Prices are not publicly listed, but the site says payment can be arranged in the destination country and offers in-person inspection of goods in Iran, subject to approval by security authorities, according to the FT.
U.S. 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. In September, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned individuals it said were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for operating a “shadow banking” network that used cryptocurrencies to process payments on Tehran’s behalf.
Read more at the Financial Times
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