Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a warning targeting several major US technology companies with operations in the Middle East, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
The IRGC declared on Tuesday that 18 companies would be considered “legitimate targets” in retaliation for recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian territory. Attacks, according to a Telegram post translated from Farsi, were set to begin at 8 p.m. Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1 (12:30 p.m. EDT), and employees were urged to vacate workplaces immediately to ensure safety.
“From now on, for every assassination, an American company will be destroyed,” the IRGC stated on its affiliated Telegram channel. Other companies named included Intel, Cisco, HP, Oracle, IBM, Dell, Palantir, JP Morgan, Tesla, GE, Boeing, Spire Solutions, and UAE-based AI firm G42.
The threat follows Iranian strikes on AWS data centers in the Middle East earlier this month, which disrupted apps and digital services in the United Arab Emirates. Many U.S. tech firms have recently expanded into the region, particularly around AI infrastructure projects, attracted by low energy costs and available land.
Intel emphasized employee safety in a statement, saying, “The safety and wellbeing of our team is our number one priority. We are taking steps to safeguard and support our workers and facilities in the Middle East and are actively monitoring the situation.” Microsoft, Google, and JP Morgan declined to comment.
The escalation comes amid ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions, with retaliatory attacks across the Middle East following U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, more than 3,000 drones and missiles have been launched by Iran targeting the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
As of Tuesday, President Donald Trump indicated that U.S. forces may withdraw from Iran within “two or three weeks,” and announced a national address on the conflict. Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) reports that over 3,400 Iranian civilians and military personnel, and 13 U.S. service members, have died since the escalation began.
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