Mindex, the export center of Iran’s Ministry of Defense, accepts cryptocurrency payment method for advanced weapons systems as a means of circumventing international sanctions that the country is facing.
Potential customers can purchase weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, among other accepted payment methods, including Iranian rials or barter, according to the center’s website.
Mindex is responsible for Iran’s overseas defense sales and claims to have customers in 35 countries.
No prices are displayed for the available items.
The offer is among the first known cases of a country accepting cryptocurrency as payment for military equipment, according to the Financial Times, which reported earlier.
However, the facility to use cryptocurrency as a means of payment in transactions involving sanctioned countries is already well established. In early 2025, blockchain analytics provider Chainalysis reported that US-sanctioned countries had received nearly $16 billion in digital assets the previous year.
United Nations (UN) sanctions against Iran saw a re-escalation in 2025, reimposing those that had been lifted in 2015 over the country’s nuclear program.
