An Iranian state-affiliated news agency has claimed that the country’s military intentionally targeted Amazon data centers in the Middle East. The Fars News Agency, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the drone strikes were launched because the facilities allegedly supported U.S. military and intelligence operations.
The attacks reportedly hit two Amazon facilities in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week. A third facility in Bahrain also suffered damage from a nearby drone strike. These incidents caused significant disruptions to Amazon’s cloud computing services across the region.
Amazon has remained tight-lipped about the exact nature of the attacks. The tech giant officially stated only that “objects” struck its UAE data center, which caused “sparks and fire.” The company has refused to confirm if the incident was a deliberate attack or if it is related to the broader conflict in the Middle East.
However, the Iranian news agency took clear credit. In a post on the messaging app Telegram, Fars stated, “This action was taken in order to identify the role of these centers in supporting the enemy’s military and intelligence activities.” The post claimed the strikes inflicted “serious physical damage” on the buildings.
Amazon isn’t the only tech target. Fars also claimed the IRGC impacted Microsoft’s operations in the region, though it did not provide specific details on where or how those attacks occurred. The agency boasted that hitting both companies dealt a “serious blow to the enemy’s technological and information infrastructure.”
These attacks raise major questions about the future of American tech investments in the Middle East. Both Amazon and Microsoft had planned to spend billions building new cloud infrastructure in the region. Amazon recently committed $5.3 billion for a new project in Saudi Arabia, while Microsoft planned a massive $15.2 billion investment in the UAE. With their physical buildings now acting as military targets, those plans may face serious delays or cancellations.
