Offices Of Tech Giants Google, Microsoft, Banks In Iran Crosshairs: Report

Offices and infrastructure of tech giants in Israel and Gulf countries may come under Iranian fire as the conflict in the Middle East drags on. Al Jazeera has reported that Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has released a list of offices and infrastructure run by top US companies with Israeli links whose technology has been used for military applications.

The list describes these offices as "Iran's new targets" and adds, "As the scope of the regional war expands to infrastructure war, the scope of Iran's legitimate targets expands."

These companies include Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle. Their offices are located in multiple Israeli cities and in some Gulf countries, Al Jazeera reported.

Both Google and Microsoft have multiple offices in the Middle East. While Google has its Middle East headquarters in Dubai, Microsoft has a major regional office in the UAE capital. Both tech giants have offices in Israel.

Tehran has also warned that it might target economic centres and banks related to US and Israeli entities in the Middle East.

Al Jazeera reported that a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, a group the UN describes as IRGC-owned, said, "The enemy left our hands open to targeting economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime in the region." It warned that "people of the region should not be within a one-kilometre radius of banks."

Iranian media have reported that the US and Israeli strikes hit a bank in Tehran, killing an unspecified number of employees.

Iran has launched a counterstrike after a coordinated attack by the US and Israel, and is targeting the US assets in the Middle East. It has also targeted its neighbours, the Gulf nations allied with the US. Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has raised energy security concerns, particularly in Asian markets such as China and India.