Iran’s military on Thursday said it will consider billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s companies, including SpaceX’s Starlink internet service, as potential targets in West Asia as Tehran retaliates against renewed US attacks, Iranian state media reported.
A regional Starlink ground station could be attacked as Iran is targeting “all interests related to economic holdings managed by Elon Musk in West Asia,” Tehran’s state-media outlet Fars news wrote in a Telegram post.
The report threatening Musk’s companies in the region came around the same time when US President issued the latest warning that American forces will attack Iran “very hard tonight.”
The threat to Musk’s companies in West Asia came as tensions flared in the region after the US and Iran exchanged a spate of strikes in the last couple of days, teetering the ceasefire which was signed between Washington and Tehran on April 8.
It is also straining the ongoing efforts to craft an agreement in order to end the three-month-old conflict.
Musk-led Starlink has been instrumental for the US military’s operations against Iran, as it supports high-tech ordnance ranging from unmanned surveillance and strike vessels to aerial attack drones, NBC News reported.
The Fars news, citing an “informed source”, reported that the United States has committed “war crimes” against the Islamic Republic with the support of companies being run by Musk.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to attack all facilities related to [Musk]-managed holdings in the region and occupied territories,” the source was quoted as saying by Fars news.
The warning against Musk’s companies isn’t new, as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously threatened US tech companies in the Gulf region, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Nvidia.
This comes as SpaceX is entering the US and has drawn more than $70 billion in orders from retail investors for its , where the Musk-led company is aiming to raise $75 billion at a valuation of $1.8 trillion.
