Iranian First Vice President Eshak Jahangiri has called on all licensed miners in the country to stop operating due to the ongoing energy crisis.
According to the Tasnim News Agency, Eshaq Jahangiri said in a meeting with Department of Energy officials that electricity consumption restrictions for cryptocurrency miners are likely to remain until early August.
In May, the Iranian president approved a ban on mining cryptocurrencies until September 22, as mining overloads the country’s energy grids. However, Iran’s Ministry of Industry and Trade recently authorized the operation of thirty mining enterprises in the country.
“We will make sure that the supply of electricity to important facilities occurs without interruption,” Jahangiri said. “Licensed cryptocurrency miners must stop working completely.”
Mining cryptocurrencies as an industrial activity has been legal in Iran since 2019, provided that miners are licensed and regulated accordingly. However, many unlicensed mining companies are illegally connecting to power grids, and authorities are raiding and shutting down facilities.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Energy said that the department would impose severe penalties for miners mining cryptocurrencies in residential buildings. In early June, the Iranian president announced that he intends to legalize crypto assets and called for the development of regulations to regulate them.
