According to the Iranian news agency IBENA, the Secretary of Iran’s so-called Supreme Cyberspace Council has recently announced that the nation is now allowing cryptocurrency mining as a legitimate industry.

More specifically, the aforementioned secretary – Abolhassan Firoozabadi – is cited as noting that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are now approved by major governmental agencies as a recognized industry.

According to Firoozabadi, the ”major agencies” that have now recognized cryptocurrency mining as a legitimate business endeavor are the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the nation’s central bank, the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that there is, as of yet, no official legislation which supports the industry with guidelines or any sort of legal framework.

However, Firoozabadi stated that a dedicated platform for cryptocurrency mining regulations is currently being developed by Iran’s National Cyberspace Center (NCC).

In addition to this, the Iranian government is reportedly mulling the potential creation of a state-backed cryptocurrency. Such a cryptocurrency could be useful for Iranian businesses to deal with their international partners, as Iran faces increasing economic pressure from US-led sanctions.

Firoozabadi went on to note that Iranian authorities are currently looking to introduce a cryptocurrency-centric regulatory framework, aimed mainly at Iranian cryptocurrency startups.

These statements come off the heels of a report in late August that the NCC in Iran had completed the draft of an Iranian, state-backed cryptocurrency project. This project was reportedly urged by none other than Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani.

Moreover, it has similarly previously been reported that the notion of creating a national cryptocurrency is actively being explored by the relevant Iranian authorities.

The deputy director tasked with drafting the regulations for Iran’s Supreme Cyberspace Council has previously been cited as revealing that such a currency is indeed being prosecuted.

This would not be unprecedented. Venezuela has been notorious for pursuing the state-backed Petro cryptocurrency in a bid to escape US sanctions, although a recent Reuters report – which Toshi Times covered – suggests that the Petro might not even exist.

Furthermore, the news of cryptocurrency mining being green-lit in Iran comes amid reports of the price of Bitcoin approaching its all-time high in the Iranian Rial currency, as the price of the Rial drops against the US dollar.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have previously proved valuable tools for escaping the significant loss of currency value in countries with rampant inflation, such as Venezuela, even accounting for the drop in the price of Bitcoin since the start of the year.

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