Iran blames crypto miners for deepening energy crisis

The energy crisis in Iran has worsened in the past few months, with residents blaming the country’s crypto mining operations as the main cause. The energy crisis has caused a small number of vocal groups to take to the streets in demonstrations against the government.

According to reports, Lake Urmia, which used to be one of the largest saltwater lakes in the world, has now lost its beauty, with people now describing it as miles of salt-encrusted marshland. In addition, the towns close by have also been affected, with experts noting that it may completely dry out at the end of this summer.

Iran has suffered a record drought and water crisis across the country, with the electricity shortage in the country compounding the whole issue. The situation has also been worsened by the hot summer months, where temperatures can go as high as 40 °C. Government buildings have also not been spared, with the ones in Tehran regularly shutting down for days to conserve energy, while workers in the capital city complain about their working conditions.

Iranian energy crisis deepens

In the coastal town of Babolsar, there have been continued demonstrations outside a power station against the constant outages. The demonstrations were captured in a video that has now circulated on social media, showing medics inside local hospitals using handheld traditional fans in the heat. In addition, there have also been cases of darkness enveloping the chemotherapy ward as a result of being without power for days.

Residents and experts have directed the blame towards the government, claiming that their mismanagement brought this on the country. In the shared video, the protesters were heard chanting “water, electricity, life – these are our indisputable rights” and “death to incompetence” as police continued to gather to stop the protests from getting out of hand.

Hamid, an ice cream seller in the northern town of Khomam, noted that the constant outage was affecting his business. “We managed to tolerate two hours of cuts each day – but then they increased to twice a day, so I had no electricity for four hours in my shop. The ice cream melted, and we were melting from the heat ourselves,” he said. He said he was glad to join others to protest outside the governor’s office and has been relieved that the power cuts have since dropped.

As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, residents have thrown blame at the government, accusing crypto cartels led by the Khamenei regime of trying to make profits with scarce energy. The report claimed that while the country has been passing through one of its most difficult periods with epileptic electricity, residents have blamed these crypto mining firms for plundering their resources, linking most of the activities to the Islamic Guard Corps (IRGC).

The worsening energy crisis has also fueled public resentment as Iranians have been trying to recover from Israeli and American bombings earlier in the summer. Both nations targeted the nuclear program in the country, but the air strikes reportedly killed almost 1,100 people in Iran. Nuclear power contributes little to the country’s energy supply, with only about 2% of its electricity drawn from a single nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, the drought has now become a big problem, prompting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to sound alarms at cabinet meetings. “We are in a serious and unimaginable crisis,” Pezeshkian told officials last week. He also took to X to lash out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he told Iranians to fight against their government due to the worsening energy crisis. “A mirage, nothing more!” Pezeshkian posted on X.

Mohammad Mohebbi, an engineer with the Iranian electric sector, has also accused the government of causing the drought. Mohebbi mentioned that about 5% of Iran’s national grid has now been taken up by the IRGC, with the body using it for crypto mining to evade international sanctions. Environmental expert Kaveh Madani has blamed what he called “water bankruptcy mode”, describing it as decades of a self-sufficiency push that has maxed out previously abundant resources.