Iran’s military issued a new threat to 18 U.S. companies in the Middle East on Tuesday, pledging to strike “espionage entities” associated with the “warmongering government of the United States,” according to Iranian state media.
The new threat specifically calls out tech companies like Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which Iran says has assisted in “US-Israeli terror operations,” since the war against the country was launched Feb. 28, according to Iran’s Press TV. A statement also called out hardware suppliers HP, Intel, IBM, and Cisco.
The strikes against U.S. tech companies and properties are supposed to start April 1 at 8 p.m. local time in Iran, which is 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Many U.S. tech companies have offices in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Abu Dhabi, which could become targets of Iranian drone and missile attacks if the country follows through on its threat.
“In response to this terrorist operation, henceforth, the main institutions involved in terrorist activities will be considered legitimate targets,” reads a statement to Press TV from Iran’s military, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
“We advise employees of these institutions to immediately leave their workplaces to protect their lives,” the statement continued. “Residents within a one-kilometer radius of these terrorist companies across all countries in the region are also urged to evacuate and move to safe locations.”
Iran similarly threatened tech companies on March 10, when it also called out firms like Palantir and Oracle, which are intimately involved with U.S. military operations. Oracle was founded in the 1970s as a CIA project and Palantir has been used for targeting during the ongoing war, a fact of which CEO Alex Karp is very proud.
Iran hit two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain during the first week of the war. The U.S. military uses Amazon Web Services (AWS), which reportedly experienced power outages and water damage from firefighters trying to put out fires, according to CNBC.
President Donald Trump previously pledged to keep the U.S. out of “regime change wars,” though he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have now been bragging that the regime in Iran has been changed by assassinating the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But it’s unclear what the actual goal of the war in Iran might be. Khamenei’s son, who’s reportedly more radical, is now in charge of the country. And Iran has stopped traffic from flowing freely in the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and natural gas prices soaring. Lately, Trump has been saying he wants to “keep the oil” and has hinted at a possible ground invasion as he sends thousands more troops to the region.
An interview with former IRGC commander Hossein Kanani Moghaddam appeared on state TV Tuesday where he talked about the the defense of his country from the U.S. and Israel, insisting that Iran is in a “stronger position,” with capabilities they haven’t yet deployed.
“There are still many surprises ahead, things the Americans and Israelis have yet to face,” Moghaddam said. “For example, we possess electromagnetic weapons, capable of disabling an entire city’s power and electronic systems without harming civilians.”
Moghaddam said such capabilities haven’t been unleashed yet because there’s been an effort to avoid seriously targeting infrastructure. “That’s why we have no concern about the war continuing or becoming prolonged,” said Moghaddam.
At least 1,937 people have been killed and 24,800 have been injured in Iran since the start of the war, according to Al Jazeera. Thirteen American soldiers have been killed with at least 200 injured.
In Lebanon, where Israel is waging a concurrent war, 1,238 people have been killed with at least 3,543 injured. In Israel, 20 people have been killed and 6,008 have been injured.
“The American strategy was clearly to carry out a rapid operation, achieve their objectives quickly, declare victory and exit,” Moghaddam told Press TV. “But that strategy simply did not work against Iran.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified Hossein Kanani Moghaddam as foreign minister of Iran. Gizmodo regrets the error.
