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Iran: New Crypto Law Requires Selling Bitcoin Directly to Central Bank to Fund Imports

Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
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Iran: New Crypto Law Requires Selling Bitcoin Directly to Central Bank to Fund Imports

Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)

Iran has resorted to a new crypto currency regulation that required licensing bitcoin miners to sell their coins directly to the Central Bank for use to fund imports.

Reports published by bitcoins.com said the Iranian government has amended its crypto currency regulation to enable the country’s central bank to fund imports with bitcoin legally mined in the country.

Also, the IRNA news agency reported that the government has introduced those regulations in order to allow crypto miners to redirect their coins to the country’s finance mechanism for international trades.

“The Ministry of Energy is tasked with defining a ceiling for output of authorized crypto units subject to the energy consumed by each unit. Miners’ output should not exceed the ceiling,” the news agency wrote, adding that the central bank will soon announce details of the new law.

Meanwhile, the Mehr news agency quoted Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, deputy head of Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) and the spokesperson for the power industry, as saying: “These crypto currencies can be exchanged according to the regulations set by the central bank.”

Presstv, an Iranian state-owned news network, said that miners are supposed to supply the original crypto currency directly and within the authorized limit to the channels introduced by the central bank.

“The legal cap for the amount of crypto currency for each miner would be determined by the level of the subsidized energy used for mining and based on instructions published by the Ministry of the Energy,” it said.

Crypto currency analyst Alireza Shamkhi told ISNA news agency that the new law is vague and ambiguous.

He said it does not state how the central bank will price crypto currencies or the exchange rate between dollars and rials.

Previously, miners could exchange their crypto currencies for dollars, rials or other currencies at market prices.

“The requirement for miners to report their output to the central bank is not seen in other industries, concluding that the new law will likely reduce the industry’s attractiveness and significantly lower miners’ profit margin,” said Shamkhi.

Iran has issued over 1,000 licenses to crypto miners, including one to the Turkish bitcoin mining giant Iminer.

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World

North Korea Fires 'Around a Dozen' Ballistic Missiles into East Sea

A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
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North Korea Fires 'Around a Dozen' Ballistic Missiles into East Sea

A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo

North Korea fired "around a dozen" short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, Seoul's defense ministry said, less than a week after South Korea proposed talks over a growing border row.

The launches follow a slew of recent weapons tests by Pyongyang, including a new precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to employ AI technology.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said its military detected "around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea towards the East Sea", the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles flew about 250 kilometers, and "South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact specifications", Seoul's military said, adding it had stepped up surveillance of possible additional launches.

The Japan Coast Guard had earlier urged ships in the area to be vigilant.

Seoul's National Security Office, meanwhile, said the launches violated UN Security Council resolutions, labelling them "serious acts that do nothing to help manage the current situation".

Thursday's missile flurry comes against the backdrop of growing tensions over a landmine explosion along the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas that saw three South Korean soldiers wounded.

A joint Seoul-UN investigation earlier this month concluded that North Korea planted the landmines over a year ago.

Seoul accused Pyongyang of "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement" and demanded an apology, something the North has mockingly dismissed.

- 'Show of force' -

"This should be seen as a fairly high-level show of force," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.

"North Korea is demonstrating that it has the capability to completely destroy major South Korean and US military facilities," he said.

Pyongyang was also sending a political message, Lim added, by "showing off its overwhelming military power and warning Seoul not to interfere with its efforts to fortify the border".

Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the North would place loudspeakers on standby along the border "within days" and had put unspecified "new counter means" on alert.

Both countries have occasionally turned to loudspeakers blaring propaganda across their shared border and other psychological warfare methods.

South Korea days later proposed military talks with the North to "mutually confirm the precise location" of their border and discuss restoring communication channels, but Pyongyang has yet to respond.

The DMZ is one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers, and landmine incidents have previously heightened tensions between the two countries.

Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war, as the Korean conflict ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty.

The ratcheting tensions come as US President Donald Trump's recent overtures to North Korea have raised concerns that Seoul -- an ally of Washington -- could be sidelined in potential nuclear talks involving Pyongyang.

In his most recent comments, Trump seemingly downplayed the possibility of a summit while insisting his relationship with Kim Jong Un was "very good".

In October, North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles a day after Trump suggested the two might meet this year.

World

UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
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UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday he hopes a new Israeli government will "change course massively" and respect international law, as the country's political future hung in the balance after hard-fought elections.

"The message is: don't continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that's what we have frankly seen in the current environment," he told reporters in New York.

"Israel has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively," the Austrian diplomat added.

Earlier this week, Turk warned that Israel's military occupation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raised serious concerns of "ethnic cleansing."

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law," he said in a statement Monday.

With more than 85 percent of ballots counted in Israel's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority, making Israeli Arab parties possible kingmakers.

The Tuesday vote was the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.

World

Israel Defense Minister Slams Eisenkot’s Call for Military to Resist PM Pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Defense Minister Slams Eisenkot’s Call for Military to Resist PM Pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel's defense minister on Wednesday denounced opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot for urging the military to resist post-election pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has threatened new strikes on Iran.

"His call to senior military officials not to obey the directives of the prime minister or me or of other relevant security authorities, on the grounds that 'they have his support', is an anti-democratic statement detached from reality," Israel Katz wrote on X.

Eisenkot, a former military chief, in a speech to supporters after Tuesday's election said that Netanyahu was a caretaker prime minister lacking a mandate and that the military should serve the state rather than the premier.

"Stand firm in the face of any attempt to challenge you. You have my unequivocal backing. Netanyahu, do not dare use Israel's security for your political needs," Eisenkot said.

Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened renewed war on Iran, after bombing campaigns backed by the United States last year and again this year.

Media reports, denied by Netanyahu, said that military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir pushed back immediately before the election on the prime minister's new plans on Iran.

Katz said that Eisenkot's comments were the latest in "a campaign of lies" about tensions between Netanyahu and the military over Iran.