Iran has issued a stark warning, targeting Elon Musk’s enterprises across the Middle East, including the Starlink service from SpaceX. In a grave announcement by Fars, a semi-official Iranian news outlet, Tehran declared that ‘all interests connected to Elon Musk’s economic ventures’ in the region are now potential targets. This policy shift is said to be a reaction to the ‘utilization of Musk’s infrastructure by US and Israeli military forces, particularly Starlink.’ The statement elaborated on Musk’s support for the US military through the Starshield projects, which involve launching military satellites designed for Earth observation, encrypted communication, and secure data transmissions. Iran also mentioned that Starlink’s ground stations situated in Israel, Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, and Oman are under scrutiny. The Starshield network, dedicated to governmental, military, and intelligence tasks, has been instrumental in enabling US military operations against Iran, facilitating drone strikes, airstrikes, and surveillance.
Starlink use surges in Iran
This tension escalates as Starlink’s usage within Iran surged following the government’s internet blackout, empowering Iranians to access and disseminate information globally. The threat towards Musk’s holdings follows previous menaces directed at other major American tech giants like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Google. In response, US President Donald Trump pledged to impose ‘very hard’ retaliations against Iran, hinting at a significant intensification in the conflict with the Islamic Republic. Trump’s potential actions include targeting Iran’s crucial oil infrastructure.
President Trump has signaled a readiness to launch ‘larger, more formidable’ strikes, aiming to transform the fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace agreement. ‘The United States will be striking Iran… VERY HARD TONIGHT,’ Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social platform. He further indicated plans to seize control of key Iranian oil assets, such as Kharg Island, as part of broader efforts to dominate Iran’s oil and gas sectors, reminiscent of the US approach in Venezuela. Kharg Island is a vital hub for Iran’s oil exports, central to the nation’s strained economy.
It sits off Iran’s Gulf coast, hundreds of kilometres northwest of the narrow, strategic Strait of Hormuz. Trump talked about a possible seizure of the island earlier in the US-Israeli war in Iran, which began on February 28. The United States toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January and now says it has control of its oil industry, a strategy that Trump has repeatedly said he wants to repeat with Iran. Trump gave no details of how the United States would seize Iran’s oil terminals, but any such operation would almost certainly require the involvement of US ground troops.
But the US leader himself appeared divided on whether to go ahead with the move, in a telephone interview with Fox News shortly after his social media post. ‘Look, my preference has always been take Kharg Island,’ Trump told Fox, before adding: ‘I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest.’ Trump insisted that ‘I don’t want to have boots on the ground’ but said that ‘if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place.’
He also said he preferred not to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, after previously threatening to strike power plants and bridges. ‘I’d rather not do it, because once you do that, the people suffer,’ Trump said. Trump also vented his increasing frustration with Iran for failing to agree a deal to end the war, open the Strait of Hormuz and agree not to develop a nuclear weapon. ‘The whole thing is crazy, and they’re really in submission, they just don’t know it yet,’ Trump said, adding: ‘We are talking to them.’
US targets Iranian funds for Gulf damages
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meanwhile vowed Thursday to use Iranian funds to pay for damage that the country causes to Gulf allies. Iran and the United States have traded fire in recent days as the ceasefire looks ever shakier. ‘Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts,’ Bessent wrote on X. Bessent added that ‘any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.’ The authority is Iran’s new agency to collect fees for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for energy transit that Tehran has essentially closed off since early in the war.
