West Asia conflict escalates: Iran warns banks, financial institutions are next targets

Iran's military leadership has issued a new threat, identifying banks and financial institutions in West Asia as potential targets, Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The warning, from the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, came after Iran claimed that staff at a Tehran-based bank were killed in Israeli-American airstrikes. 

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The threat would put at risk, particularly Dubai, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain, the report said. 

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A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stated, "The enemy left our hands open to targeting economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime in the region." 

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reportedly released a list of US tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia, and Oracle, as key targets due to their involvement in military applications used by Israel. Offices and cloud-based services of these companies, located across Israeli cities and some Gulf countries, were specifically mentioned in the statement.

Ever since the war began on February 28, Tehran has been targeting vital infrastructure in the region, including oil fields and refineries in Gulf countries. The Iranian strategy appears to aim at escalating economic disruption to pressure the US and Israel to cease their military operations. 

Iran has effectively blocked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, and continues to target oil infrastructure.

Early Wednesday, Kuwait reported downing eight Iranian drones, while Saudi Arabia intercepted five targeting its Shaybah oil field. A projectile also struck a container ship off the UAE's coast in the Strait of Hormuz