“Iran Reportedly Seizes 45K Bitcoin Mining Machines After Closure of Illegal Operations,” Sebastian Sinclair, Yahoo Finance, January 18, 2021.  And a similar article reminding us that you reap what you sow—bitcoin production added to brownouts and blackouts.  “The Iranian police have confiscated some 45,000 bitcoin mining machines that were illegally using subsidized electricity.”  See “Iran Seizes Thousands Of Illicit Bitcoin Mining Machines,” January 18, 2021.

“Iran buys 16.8 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX: report,” Xinhua, January 18, 2021.

Notice how Russia seems to have Iran’s back in this article, only criticizing Israel for the conflict in Syria, and not asking anything of Iran.  This is one of the factors not resulting in Iran acting as a normal country.  See “Russia’s FM: Syria must not be an Israel-Iran battlefield,” Jerusalem Post, January 18, 2021.

It is fine for Al Thani to call for discussions, but will Qatar or Iran actually be willing to give anything up?  The basis for this call by Qatar is the recent partial reconciliation with Saudi Arabia in which Qatar gave up nothing according to media accounts.  “Qatar Says It’s Time Gulf Arabs Start Talks with Iran,” Simone Foxman, Bloomberg, January 18, 2021.