Iran names Google, Amazon, Microsoft as targets in widening regional conflict

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian news agency Tasnim on Thursday declared Google, Amazon and Microsoft as “legitimate targets” for attack, further escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

The hit list, comprising tech company offices and data centers across the Middle East, also included U.S. corporations such as NVIDIA, Palantir, IBM and Oracle as targets for attack.

Tasnim listed 29 offices, data centers and research hubs owned by seven tech giants in Qatar, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“As the regional war expands into an infrastructure war, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets gradually broadens,” Tasnim wrote in a post on Telegram called “Iran’s new targets”.

The announcement followed the bombing of Amazon data centers in the UAE and Bahrain by Iranian drones last week, amid accusations that the companies’ technologies are being used by the IDF in the war.

Advertising sales offices and research centers in populated cities were also included on the list of location targets, in addition to financial institutions named on Wednesday.

The tech companies have not stated whether they have taken steps to protect staff or close offices.

The Iranian threat stated that people should stay outside a one-kilometer radius of the locations.

Many of the tech giants named by Iran have significant operations in the Middle East, including NVIDIA, which employs roughly 5,000 people in Israel and Google, which has a center in Doha, Qatar.

The Iranian threat is designed to impede the UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s ability to capitalize on cheap energy and abundant land, making them both major players in the race against China to develop powerful AI infrastructure.

In the past, digital warfare largely took the form of cyberattacks and electronic warfare. However, the shift toward kinetic strikes against large server farms signifies a dramatic escalation.

Last week’s attacks against Amazon are believed to be the first military attacks against a US tech company’s data center