The province Tehran, where the capital is situated, was merely given a single license to run a cryptocurrency mining center.

According to the Irans’ financial news outlet, The Iranian ministry issued in total thirty operating licenses for crypto mining within the country.

Following the data provided by the Iranian ministry’s webpage, the province to receive the most operating licenses was Semnan, with six operating licenses for the province. Coming 2nd on the list was Alborz, with four operating licenses next to Mazandaran and so on. Something that raised few eyebrows was Tehran only receiving a single operating license for a cryptocurrency mining center.

The Iranian minister issued around 2,580 permits for crypto mining on an industrial scale across Iran, with close to 305 going to the province Zanjan. Coming up next was Fars with 262 and West Azerbijan with 247.

For an Iranian company to start a legal cryptocurrency mining business, it needs to get a hold of an operating license issued by the Iranian ministry. Applicants who are eligible should get a hold of an establishment permit and start setting up their commercial unit in the next twelve months and, after that, apply for an operating license.

According to the report issued, crypto mining is completely legal in the country since crypto miners need to operate under certain laws and regulations issued by the authorities in 2019. Even though crypto mining is legal in Iran, the Iranian government had not shied away from cracking down on illegal miners because of the growing pressure on Iran’s power grid. The report concurred that mining institutions pay a higher power bill for mining digital currencies compared to other businesses and residential. However, the Iranian ministry failed to respond to news outlet requests.

The latest news came after the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, addressed the press about a ban on BTC mining in Iran until the upcoming September to neutralize the pressure build-up on the country’s power grid. At the same time, last week, in the police crackdown, mining rigs close more than seven thousand were confiscated in a mining farm. The said mining farm was reportedly was the biggest drain of the country’s power resources.

Following the announcement of Iran’s power supply company, close to 188k mining units were confiscated in the last twelve months. The said devices caused roughly $4.2b in damages to the power grid and equipment.