On Wednesday, Iran’s military strikes damaged Amazon’s cloud operations in Bahrain, affecting multiple Amazon Web Services facilities in the region. A report by the Financial Times states that multiple Amazon Web Services data centers were affected in the recent Iran-linked attacks.
The assault that damaged the company’s data centre follows threats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRG), who warned that American companies like Google and Microsoft operating in the Middle East could be added to their list of targets. Other major US-based technology firms they indicated as potential targets include Apple, Meta, HP, Tesla, Nvidia, Oracle, Boeing, Cisco, and IBM.
This was the second instance in which the company’s operations were disrupted because of the war. An Amazon spokesperson informed Reuters that the interruption resulted from ‘drone activity’ in the vicinity. Previously, Amazon reported that its Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Bahrain had been ‘disrupted’ as a consequence of the conflict in the Middle East.
In the early phase of the war, Iran had hit two Amazon Web Services data centres in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a third commercial facility in Bahrain.
Data centers have become a focus in the US-Iran conflict due to their role in military, government, and financial operations. These facilities host critical AI tools and sensitive data, making them strategic targets. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strikes hit data centres supporting “the enemy’s” military and intelligence, while local media called them “enemy technology infrastructure.”