Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to attack 18 U.S. and international tech companies operating in the Middle East, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla. The IRGC issued the warning on Tuesday, stating that the companies would be considered 'legitimate targets' in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The attacks are set to begin at 8 p.m. Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1 (10:30 a.m. ET), according to a Telegram post translated by Google. The IRGC advised employees of the listed companies to leave their workplaces immediately to ensure their safety.
The IRGC's statement, published by the state-aligned Tasnim News Agency, claimed that the targeted companies are involved in 'terrorist operations' against Iran, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-tech warfare. The list of companies also includes Cisco, Intel, IBM, Dell, Palantir, JP Morgan, Boeing, and UAE-based AI company G42. The threat follows recent Iranian strikes on AWS data centers in the Middle East, which caused outages in the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. tech firms have been investing heavily in the Middle East, particularly in AI infrastructure, due to the region's cheap energy and available land. In response to the threat, Intel stated that the safety and wellbeing of its employees is its top priority, and the company is taking steps to safeguard its workers and facilities. Other companies, including Google and JP Morgan, declined to comment.
The U.S. State Department has advised American citizens in Saudi Arabia to shelter in place due to threats against locations where U.S. citizens gather. The IRGC's threat marks a shift in its strategy, targeting technology companies it alleges are responsible for enabling high-tech warfare against Iran. The threat is directly tied to ongoing attacks led by Israel and supported by U.S. intelligence, with Iran stating that the strikes will commence if any more Iranian leaders are killed in 'targeted assassinations.'