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Why Iran hit Amazon data centres in Bahrain and what it signals for warfare

Iranian drone strikes damaged AWS data centres in the Gulf in March and April 2026, marking the first deliberate wartime attacks on commercial cloud infrastructure and highlighting new vulnerabilities as AI and military systems rely on the cloud.

Apr 3rd 2026 · Iran

Insights

  • Iranian Shahed drones struck Amazon Web Services data centres in the UAE and Bahrain on March 1, 2026, with additional strikes and claims against other tech company facilities in early April.
  • This is the first known instance of a state deliberately targeting commercial data centres during wartime.
  • Iran stated the strikes were aimed at infrastructure supporting enemy military and intelligence activities and announced it would target US tech firms.
  • Commercial data centres host cloud services and AI systems used by governments, industry and military decision support, so physical damage can disrupt civilian and defense functions.
  • Data centres in the Gulf are large, relatively exposed, and typically lack dedicated air defenses, making them targets of opportunity.
  • As AI and cloud dependence grows, attacks on commercial data centres raise new regional and global security risks and may prompt changes in infrastructure protection.

Sources