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Global banks are taking precautionary steps across their financial hubs in the Gulf after Iran warned that financial institutions linked to the US and Israel in the region could become targets, as Tehran mulls further diversifying its attacks.
The warning came after Iran claimed that a building linked to Bank Sepah in Tehran was attacked on Wednesday.
Following the alleged strike, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement threatening attacks on “economic centres and banks” linked to the US and Israel across the Gulf.
In a continuation of its threats, the IRGC also urged residents of the region’s countries to stay at least 1 kilometre away.
How have the banks responded?
The statement has drawn attention in financial centres including Dubai and Doha, where many international lenders run regional operations.
HSBC has closed all its branches in Qatar until further notice, according to international media reports.
Citigroup told staff in Dubai to stay away from offices and work from home, according to a memo seen by regional media.
The New York-based lender bank said most of its employees in the UAE were already working remotely and that three buildings had been evacuated as a precaution.
Goldman Sachs told employees they must obtain approval before going to offices across the Middle East. Standard Chartered asked staff near the Dubai International Financial Centre to leave offices earlier this week.
Gulf cities host major regional headquarters for global banks and multinational firms. Many run treasury and trading operations from these financial hubs.
‘Opening other fronts’ possible, ayatollah says
In a latest development on Thursday, Iran’s newly-appointed Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei announced in his first public message that “studies have also been conducted on opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and is highly vulnerable.”
“The activation of these fronts will take place, if the state of war continues, and in accordance with strategic considerations,” the new ayatollah said in a written statement released by the Tehran regime and read on state-run TV.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not made any public appearances since his father, late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on 28 February.
Since then, questions have grown over his condition, with various reports ranging from him being lightly wounded to critically injured in the same strikes.