Iran: If any more senior Iranian officials are assassinated, it will target top American technology companies such as Apple, Google, and Meta (the metaverse).

According to reports from U.S. Politico and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, on March 31 local time, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that if any more high-ranking Iranian officials are killed in “targeted assassinations,” they will list American top technology companies such as Apple, Google, and Meta (formerly Facebook) as targets for retaliation.

The report states that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps listed a roster of 18 companies in a statement, claiming these companies are involved in the assassination of Iranian officials. The list also includes Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, data analytics firm Palantir, and chip giant NVIDIA. The statement said: “Starting from 8 p.m. Tehran time on April 1, any assassination incident within Iran involving these companies’ related departments will be met with destruction.”

The statement advised: “We recommend employees of these organizations immediately leave their workplaces to ensure their safety.” It also accused the U.S. government and tech giants of “ignoring multiple warnings from our side to cease actions targeting Iranian high-ranking officials,” and charged these tech companies with being “central to planning and tracking assassination targets.” The statement warned that “companies actively involved in terrorist plots will pay a corresponding price for each targeted killing.” The warning did not specify where the actions would be carried out but added: “Residents within a 1-kilometer radius of these companies are advised to evacuate to safe areas.” In early March, Amazon reported that two of its data centers in the UAE were hit directly by drones, and a data center in Bahrain was damaged due to nearby attacks.

Additionally, reports indicate that on the same day as the statement was issued, the Iranian military claimed that in response to attacks on Iranian infrastructure, its drones struck key “communications, telecommunications, and industrial centers” inside Israel, including Siemens-related facilities near major Israeli international airports and facilities of U.S. telecom company in Haifa. As of press time, Israel has not confirmed any of these targets being hit.

Original Title: “Iran Threatens to Strike 18 U.S. Tech Companies”

Source: Global Times

Editor: Ding Baoxiu