Iran, on Tuesday (March 31, 2026), issued a stern warning to 10 American technology companies operating in the Gulf region, classifying their offices as legitimate targets for military attacks.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued the chilling ultimatum, warning the tech giants that their regional infrastructure will be targeted following allegations of their involvement in hostile operations.
Iranian media reports said that the IRGC had alleged that these tech companies were actively assisting the US and Israeli military operations on Iran through their tech espionage activities.
The IRGC declared that these firms should prepare for retaliatory strikes. The military body specified that the planned “reprisal attacks starting at 20:00 Iran time on April 1” would be devastating. It warned that the companies’ regional offices will be ‘annihilated.’
The extensive IRGC blacklist names the world’s most prominent technology and industrial leaders, including ‘big tech’ firms Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
The IRGC also identified critical hardware and infrastructure providers, including HP, Intel, IBM, and Cisco, alongside other global giants such as Tesla, Nvidia, Oracle, JP Morgan, and Boeing.
The IRGC has categorised these organisations as “espionage entities associated with the warmongering government of the United States.”
Iran’s elite military outfit alleged that these firms’ “artificial intelligence (AI) and internet communication technology (ICT) services have been the main elements in designing terror operations and tracing assassination targets by the US and Israel inside Iran.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was receiving direct messages from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but clarified that it does not mean Tehran is in “negotiations” with Washington.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Araghchi said, “I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations.”
Araghchi claimed that Iran has not sent either a response to the 15-point proposal by the US or any conditions. He said the Islamic Republic is only open to a cessation of hostilities in the entire region and not a temporary ceasefire. Moreover, he said that Iran has reservations about negotiations with the US.
Amidst these diplomatic efforts by the US, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth paid a secret visit to the Gulf region to talk to American troops fighting Iran.
“Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to visit our troops fighting in Operation Epic Fury. We were on the ground in CENTCOM on Saturday (March 28) for about half the day,” Hegseth told a news conference alongside General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“These troops want to finish this fight for their kids and their grandkids. This is about history, this is about legacy,” he said, without mentioning where and which unit he visited.
Hegseth also noted that the American troops were pushing for more aggressive operations against Iran and were requesting larger bombs and weapons to use against Tehran.
“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do, or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground,” he said.
“If we needed to, we could execute those options on behalf of the president of the United States and this department. Or maybe we don’t have to use them at all, maybe negotiations work,” he said.