Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Tuesday that it launched cruise missiles at a major Amazon Web Services data center in Bahrain, claiming to have destroyed the facility in retaliation for a recent U.S. strike on an Iranian nuclear power plant site under construction.
The unverified assertion, broadcast by Iranian state media including Tasnim News Agency and IRIB, marks the latest escalation in a shadow conflict that has drawn commercial infrastructure into the crossfire between Tehran and Washington. Neither Amazon, Bahraini officials nor the U.S. government immediately commented on the claim, and there was no independent confirmation of damage or disruption at the site.
In a statement carried by Iranian outlets, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force said it targeted “the central data infrastructure of the American company Amazon in Bahrain” with multiple cruise missiles as part of the 24th wave of “Operation Nasr 2.” The Guard described the strike as a direct response to a U.S. attack Sunday on the Darkhovin nuclear facility in Iran’s Khuzestan province, which Tehran has characterized as a civilian project under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
“ The aerospace warriors of the IRGC, in response to the aggression … attacked and destroyed the central data infrastructure,” the statement said, according to Iranian reporting.
Strategic Importance of Bahrain Facility
The Bahrain AWS facility serves as a key cloud computing hub for the Gulf region, supporting data operations for governments, telecommunications providers and financial institutions. Previous Iranian-linked incidents earlier this year reportedly caused localized disruptions and prompted some customers to reroute workloads, though Amazon has not detailed the extent of any past damage.
U.S. officials have described the broader campaign of American strikes on Iranian military sites as necessary to degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces have responded with waves of missile and drone claims against U.S. and allied assets across Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, including unverified reports of hits on radar systems and aircraft.
No Independent Verification
Analysts cautioned that Iranian claims often outpace verifiable outcomes in the current conflict. Similar announcements in April and earlier this month regarding strikes on Western tech facilities and U.S. bases produced limited or no confirmed effects, according to regional security monitors.
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has faced repeated Iranian threats amid the hostilities. The country’s authorities have previously condemned attacks on its territory, describing them as risks to civilian infrastructure.
The latest exchange comes despite a Pakistan-brokered peace agreement signed in June, underscoring the fragility of efforts to contain the U.S.-Iran confrontation. Oil prices and tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have fluctuated with each wave of claims, raising concerns about broader economic fallout across the energy-rich Gulf.
Amazon Web Services operates multiple data centers in the Middle East. The company has not issued a statement on Tuesday’s reported incident.
This story is developing.
