Iran will treat all of Elon Musk's commercial operations in the Middle East as military targets, including a regional Starlink ground station, the Iranian state media outlet Fars reported on Thursday.
The outlet cited an unnamed source saying that the Islamic Republic "reserves the right to attack all facilities related to holdings managed by Musk in the region," framing the threat as retaliation for what it called US war crimes carried out with the support of Musk-linked companies.
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, has supported US military operations against Iran, providing connectivity for aerial attack drones and unmanned surveillance and strike vessels.
The threat came as US President Donald Trump warned on his social media account that the US would attack Iran "very hard tonight" and said the US would soon seize control of Kharg Island, Iran's central oil export hub, along with other oil infrastructure.
"We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night," Trump said in a Fox News interview on Thursday morning.
The exchange follows several days of escalating strikes between the two countries. Trump accused Iran of shooting down a US Army helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. The US launched retaliatory strikes on Tuesday, Iran responded, and the US fired additional missiles on Wednesday – straining efforts to reach a peace deal and further weakening a tattered ceasefire.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has previously threatened other US technology companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond.
The declaration raises immediate questions about war risk and political violence coverage for US and multinational companies with operations or assets in the region – and whether existing policies would respond if commercial infrastructure is deliberately targeted in a military conflict.
