Iran has yet to issue license for importing crypto mining rigs

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Iran has not issued any licenses for crypto mining in the country, a report has revealed. The report by Mehr News Agency said that despite recent reports indicating the country would recognize crypto mining, the government has yet to commission the importation of the required equipment.

Jamal Arounaghi, Deputy President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), said that his department has only determined and defined the tariff line for crypto mining devices. This was upon request by some organizations in the country.

This shouldn’t be construed as a license to import mining equipment, he continued. According to Arounaghi, even goods that are banned in the country have an established tariff line. He added, “For example, some psychotropic or psychedelic drugs have tariff line in IRICA.”

IRICA has nothing against crypto mining however, Arounaghi stated. Whenever the government approves the importation of crypto mining devices, IRICA will execute legal directives, he stated. The Ministry of Industry and Mining is in charge of the process and IRICA will only act after the ministry gives the green light.

As CoinGeek recently reported, local reports have indicated that Iran plans on authorizing crypto mining in the country to boost its ailing economy. A report by PressTV indicated that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) approved parts of an executive law that seeks to legalize crypto mining.

The governor of the CBI stated “Mining of the international digital currencies should be done based on the price of electricity for export. What’s more important is that these mined currencies should be fed back to the national economic cycle.”

Iran has cheap electricity which gives the local miners a great advantage over their peers from regions where electricity isn’t as cheap.

However, Iran has also acted with concern over the high power use in some of the mining farms. Earlier this month, the government seized over 1,000 crypto mining rigs over alleged high power use. According to one official in the Iranian energy sector, those mining cryptos were reportedly using as much energy as 24 households.

However, according to one source in Iran who spoke to CoinGeek, the government still has a lot of influence on the crypto mining process. The source told CoinGeek that the miners who have an alliance with the government are fine, but those that don’t risk having their equipment impounded or even in some cases, getting arrested. The source also revealed that the government has been considering availing more electricity to crypto miners, but at the export rate of $0.7 per watt as opposed to local rates which are much lower.

The source concluded, “In summary; it is still very risky and chaotic to mine in Iran unless there is government involvement.”