Tesla CEO Elon Musk holds a mobile phone as he arrives to attend a state banquet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 14, 2026.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
Iran will treat all of Elon Musk’s companies in the Middle East, including SpaceX’s Starlink internet service, as military targets as it retaliates against the U.S., Iranian state media outlet Fars reported Thursday.
Iran is targeting “all interests related to economic holdings managed by Elon Musk in West Asia,” including a regional Starlink ground station, according to a translated post on Fars’ Telegram page.
Starlink has played a key role in U.S. military operations against Iran, supporting high-tech ordnance ranging from aerial attack drones to unmanned surveillance and strike vessels.
Iran asserts the U.S. has committed war crimes against it with the support of Musk-related companies, Fars reported, citing an “informed source.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to attack all facilities related to [Musk]-managed holdings in the region and occupied territories,” that source said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously threatened other U.S. tech companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
The Fars report came around the same time President Donald Trump warned on his own social media account that the U.S. will attack Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.”
Trump in the same message said the U.S. will soon seize control of Kharg Island, Iran’s central oil-export hub, along with “other oil infrastructure points.”
SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the Fars post.
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The threat to target Musk’s regional economic entities came after the U.S. and Iran launched a spate of strikes in recent days, straining efforts to craft a peace deal and further invalidating a tattered ceasefire.
Trump accused Iran of shooting down a U.S. Army helicopter that went down while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening.
The U.S. launched strikes in retaliation on Tuesday, prompting a military response from Iran. The U.S. fired more missiles on Wednesday.
“We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night,” Trump said in a Fox News interview Thursday morning.