Roving Periscope: Iran vows to hit US-Israeli, economic, tech interests in West Asia
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: On the 12th day of the ongoing fierce war in West Asia, Iran vowed to target American-Israeli banks and economic interests as well as technology companies in the war-torn region, the media reported on Wednesday.
According to some reports, Iran may also target desalination plants across West Asia to create water crisis to pressurize the US and its Arab allies to end the war soon.
“The enemy has given us free rein to target economic centres and banks belonging to the United States,” Iran military command said in a statement.
Tehran has warned it will target economic and banking centres linked to the United States and Israel across West Asia following what it described as an attack on an Iranian bank.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters issued a statement identifying the targets. “The enemy has given us free rein to target economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime,” said the military’s central operational command in a statement carried by state TV. Its spokesperson warned people of the region to stay 1,000 metres away from banks.
State media reported US and Israeli strikes hitting a bank in Tehran overnight, killing an unspecified number of employees.
Iranian media reported that staff at a bank in Tehran were killed in the airstrikes, prompting the warning from the military command.
The threat raises concerns for regional financial hubs, particularly Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts a large number of international banks and financial institutions. Other potential areas of concern include Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, both home to major regional financial centres.
The statement came as Iran widened its military campaign across the Gulf region. Iranian drones struck near the Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest international travel hub and home to Emirates airline, wounding four people although flights continued operating, officials said.
Iran also targeted commercial shipping across the Gulf. A projectile struck a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman, setting it ablaze and forcing most of the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military said.
Separate incidents were reported involving vessels near the UAE and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf.
Regional defences were activated as Iranian drones and missiles were launched toward multiple Gulf states. Kuwait said its air defences shot down eight Iranian drones, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones headed toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field and destroyed ballistic missiles targeting Prince Sultan Air Base, a facility jointly operated by Saudi and US forces.
The attacks have effectively halted most cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime corridor through which about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments pass.
Iran also targeted oil infrastructure across Gulf Arab nations, aimed at raising global economic pressure on Washington and Israel to halt their strikes.
Meanwhile, Iran also warned American technology companies that their offices and infrastructure could become targets as the conflict in the region widens.
Al Jazeera reported that IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency published a list of offices and infrastructure run by major US technology companies that it claims are linked to Israel and used for military purposes.
The report described these locations as “Iran’s new targets,” saying the list includes infrastructure used for cloud-based services operated by companies such as Google, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle Corporation.
Both Google and Microsoft have multiple offices in the region. 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 as well.
The listed offices and infrastructure are located in several Israeli cities as well as in some Gulf countries. Tasnim said the targets were identified because their technology had allegedly been used for military applications.
“As the scope of the regional war expands to infrastructure war, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets expands,” it said, according to Al Jazeera.
The war between the United States-Israel combine, and Iran, entered its 12th day on Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least seven people across southern Lebanon early Wednesday, including five in the town of Qana.
Residents of Tehran also reported some of the war’s “heaviest bombardment” overnight, with powerful explosions shaking neighbourhoods and causing electricity outages across parts of the capital.
Responding to continuing US-Israeli attacks, Iran has reportedly begun laying sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Dozens of mines have been placed so far in the waterway, CNN reported.
Iran still retains around 80-90 percent of its small boats and mine-laying vessels, which means it has the capability to deploy hundreds of mines if the situation escalates. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with the country’s navy, could use small craft, explosive-laden boats and shore-based missiles to target ships moving through the area.
Reacting to these reports, US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social, “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!”
