Iran launches attack against Amazon cloud data center in Bahrain

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched an attack on an Amazon cloud computing center in Bahrain, state media outlet IRNA news agency reported, according to Al Jazeera.

The attack was first reported at 8:30 a.m. PST, the second of two attacks at the Bahrain Amazon facility in the last two days.

Reuters previously reported that, according to Bahrain’s Interior Ministry, civil defense teams were ​extinguishing a fire at the same Amazon company ​facility Wednesday following what authorities described as an ⁠Iranian attack. No details on casualties or the ​extent of damage have been released, as of this reporting.

Iran threatens Microsoft, Boeing employees to evacuate

Earlier this week, the IRGC warned employees at 18 major American companies to evacuate their Middle East workplaces. Two of the companies listed, Microsoft and Boeing, are based in Washington.

The threats target company facilities and personnel in the Middle East, not U.S. or Washington state locations. But the warning puts two of the region’s largest employers squarely in the middle of a conflict that is already driving fuel prices to historic highs and rattling global supply chains.

“From now on, for every assassination, an American company will be destroyed,” the IRGC said in a post to its Telegram channel, according to CNBC.

Amazon was not listed among the 18 companies, but was previously attacked on March 1.

Iranian drones struck two Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, the first publicly confirmed attack on American-owned hyperscale cloud infrastructure, according to Wired. A third data center was damaged. Banking sites, payment processors, and consumer services across the region crashed as a result.

The full IRGC target list also included Apple, Google, Nvidia, Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Dell, Palantir, JPMorgan, Tesla, GE, Spire Solutions, and the UAE-based AI company G42.

Microsoft, alongside Amazon, has poured billions of dollars into Gulf state data center infrastructure as part of a massive AI buildout across the region. The IRGC accused both companies of providing technology that enabled joint U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran. Boeing’s inclusion reflects the same accusation: that its equipment and technology supported the military campaign.

This is a developing story, check back for updates

Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.