Iran says it will target US-Israeli economic, banking interests in region

Iran will target economic and banking interests linked to the US and Israel in the region, after an attack on an Iranian bank, a spokesperson for Tehran's Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters said on Wednesday.

An administrative building linked to Bank Sepah, one of the country's largest public banks and with historical links to the military, was hit overnight in Tehran, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

"Following their failed campaign, the terrorist US army and cruel Zionist regime (Israel) have targeted one of the country's banks," state media quoted Ebrahim Zolfaqari as saying.

"With this illegitimate and uncommon action, the enemy is forcing our hand to target economic centres and banks linked to the US and Zionist regime in the region," he added.

The spokesperson warned people in the region to stay 1,000 metres away from banks.

"The enemy has given us free rein to target economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime," said the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by state TV.

US financial service group Citi and two other companies in Dubai's financial centre asked employees to evacuate their offices on Wednesday after Iran threatened to strike US and Israel-linked banks in the Middle East.

Employees were asked to evacuate Citi offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and in Oud Metha, a source with knowledge of the evacuations told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Employees at two other companies in DIFC also told AFP their offices had been evacuated as a precaution.

British consulting group Deloitte also told its staff on Wednesday to vacate their offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Tehran also announced facilities associated with major US technology companies, noting Amazon, Microsoft and Palantir are all potential targets across Israel, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.