Kamal Ghorui
Iran on Wednesday warned American tech companies that their offices and infrastructure could become targets as the conflict in the region widens.Al Jazeera reported that IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has published a list of offices and infrastructure run by major US technology companies that it claims are linked to Israel and used for military purposes.The report described these locations as “Iran’s new targets”. It said the list includes infrastructure used for cloud-based services operated by companies such as Google, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle Corporation.According to the report, the listed offices and infrastructure are located in several Israeli cities as well as in some Gulf countries.Tasnim said the targets were identified because their technology had allegedly been used for military applications. “As the scope of the regional war expands to infrastructure war, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets expands,” it said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Separately, Iran also warned that it could target economic centres and banks linked to US and Israeli entities across the region.A spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, which the United Nations has described as owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the warning came after what Iran called an attack on one of its banks.“The enemy left our hands open to targeting economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime in the region,” the spokesperson said.The official also warned civilians to stay away from such locations. “People of the region should not be within a one-kilometre radius of banks,” the spokesperson said.Meanwhile, the war between the United States, Israel and Iran entered its 12th day on Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least seven people across southern Lebanon early Wednesday, including five in the town of Qana. Residents of Tehran also reported some of the war’s “heaviest bombardment” overnight, with powerful explosions shaking neighborhoods and causing electricity outages across parts of the capital.
