In a Telegram post on Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to strike 18 companies for their involvement in military operations and tracking targets in the Middle East.
The companies listed skewed toward Big Tech giants. They were Cisco (CSCO), HP (HP), Intel (INTC), Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Meta (META), IBM (IBM), Dell (DELL), Palantir (PLTR), Nvidia (NVDA), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Tesla (TSLA), General Electric (GE), Boeing (BA), Spire Solutions, and AI firm G42.
The IRGC advised these companies’ employees to leave their workplaces immediately.
The US tech sector has increasingly intertwined itself with the Gulf region as the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar spend billions to establish an AI hub in the region.
Microsoft and OpenAI have pursued data center projects in the region, as has Amazon Web Services, which already experienced disruptions to service due to airstrikes.
Tesla has also expanded in the Middle East, launching the Cybertruck and Model Y Performance cars in regional markets while setting up showrooms in Dubai.
