Iran Targets US Economic Assets in Regional Banks

Iran has announced it will target US and Israeli economic and banking interests in the region. The declaration came after the US and Israel launched attacks against Iranian banks, according to a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters in Tehran on Wednesday.

An administrative building associated with Bank Sepah, one of the country’s largest public banks with historical ties to the military, was struck overnight in Tehran, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

“After their campaign failed, the terrorist US army and the cruel Zionist (Israeli) regime have targeted one of the banks in the country,” said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, quoted by state media.

“With this unlawful and unusual action, the enemy has forced us to target economic centres and banks linked to the US and the Zionist regime in the region,” he added. The spokesman warned residents in the region to stay at least 1,000 metres away from banks.

Iran will also target US technology companies. The Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, released a list of offices and infrastructure operated by major US companies with connections to Israel and whose technology is used for military applications. Tasnim referred to these as “Iran’s new targets”.

“As the scope of regional conflict expands into infrastructure warfare, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets also expands,” the news agency stated.

The companies listed include Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia, and Oracle, with offices and infrastructure for cloud-based services registered in several cities in Israel and several Gulf countries.

The US is known to have conducted strikes against Iran with the assistance of artificial intelligence, which appears to be the reason why the technology sector has become a target.