Iran’s Defense Ministry Opens Crypto Payments for Ballistic Missiles
Tehran’s export body Mindex now accepts crypto for Emad missiles and Shahed drones, formalizing digital assets in state-level sanctions evasion.
Iran’s Ministry of Defence Export Center (Mindex) has officially listed cryptocurrency as an accepted payment method for its military hardware catalog, a move that institutionalizes digital assets within Tehran’s state-level sanctions evasion architecture.
The Mindex portal, which manages arms exports for the Iranian regime, now explicitly offers settlement in “digital currencies” alongside barter trade and Iranian Rials. This pivot allows the export body to bypass SWIFT and the U.S. banking system entirely while servicing claimed client relationships in 35 countries.
The “Receipt”: Arms for Tokens
The catalog available for crypto purchase includes strategic assets previously restricted by Western embargoes. Specific hardware listed includes:
- Emad Ballistic Missiles: Precision-guided long-range weaponry.
- Shahed Drones: Loitering munitions widely exported to conflict zones.
- Shahid Soleimani-class Warships: Advanced naval corvettes.
Mindex’s platform features a chatbot and an FAQ section directly addressing compliance concerns. When queried on sanctions risk, the site reportedly assures buyers that “given the general policies of the Islamic Republic… there is no problem in implementing the contract.”
The willingness to accept cryptocurrency marks one of the first publicly known cases of a nation-state openly offering strategic military hardware in exchange for digital assets.
Liquidity on the “Shadow Rails”
This policy formalizes a trend already visible on-chain. Inbound cryptocurrency volumes to Iran rose 11.8% year-over-year in 2025, with an estimated 5 million active traders now operating within the country. Recent data indicates a heavy preference for USDT on the Tron network (TRX) among sanctioned entities due to its high velocity and lower fee structure compared to Ethereum.
For global exchanges, this development forces an immediate re-evaluation of risk parameters. Any wallet interacting with known Mindex-linked addresses now carries contagious sanctions risk, likely prompting aggressive blocklisting by Tether and Circle (USDC) to avoid OFAC enforcement actions.
