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A law presented this week in Congress takes a hard line on Iran's efforts to develop its own cryptocurrency.
The American regulators have warned in recent months that the Iranian government wants to use a sovereign cryptocurrency, similar to the petro in Venezuela, to evade economic sanctions.
Parties to the Iran Illicit Finance Act, introduced by representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), Require a report on Iran's efforts to create a sovereign cryptocurrency. A corresponding bill was presented to the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The proposals require sanctions against those who knowingly provide Iran with funding, services or "technological support, used in connection with the development of the Iranian digital currency".
The move comes in the context of the Trump administration decision in May 2018 to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear agreement or the joint general action plan (JCPOA).
"Withdrawing from the JCPOA was just the first step to increase pressure on the Iranian regime," Gallagher said in a statement. "We now have an important window to impose maximum economic pressure and degrade the Iranian regime's ability to export violence across the region, and this legislation does exactly that, effectively cutting Iran from the international financial community."
Iran has been in the news for a number of problems related to cryptocurrency in recent weeks.
At the beginning of this week, an official of the Iranian government spoke about the positive aspects of the blockchain's embrace. Low-cost electricity in the Islamic Republic has made Iran a hot destination for bitcoin mining companies.
Meanwhile, recently released US sanctions have trapped Iranian bitcoin traders, one of whom later told CoinDesk he was innocent.
Iranian rial image through Shutterstock
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