The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the cloud data center of the American company Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Bahrain, IRIB reported citing the Iranian military’s press service. They claim that the center has been destroyed.
The strike was carried out as a warning, the IRGC stated. If the United States continues its terrorist acts, killing officials and their families, the punishment will be harsher, and the company in the region will be completely destroyed, the statement emphasized.
The IRIB report also mentioned that, according to Amazon’s own statement, the company will leave the region. On March 24, Reuters reported with reference to an Amazon representative that “drone activity” in the Middle East disrupted the operations of AWS’s regional division in Bahrain.
On March 2, the company reported that facilities in Bahrain and the UAE were left without power, and Amazon was working on restoration, including transferring computing loads to other regions.
Bahrain houses the largest regional data center of Amazon, which was opened in 2019 and provides advanced cloud services in the Gulf countries and the Middle East, the Iranian agency Fars clarifies.
The AWS regional division in Bahrain has already been targeted by strikes from Iran. Previously, the IRGC struck the Amazon data processing center in Bahrain on March 3, and also attacked two of the company’s facilities in the UAE. As a result, according to the company, the attacks caused structural damage, power outages, and fires, the extinguishing of which led to additional damage from flooding.
Earlier, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps promised on the evening of April 1 to attack the facilities of 18 American companies in the Middle East. Among the potential targets were — units of Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, HP, Intel, Tesla, Boeing, and JP Morgan.
“Since the main element in developing and tracking targets for assassinations are American companies operating in the ICT and AI sectors, they will become our legitimate targets,” the IRGC statement said.
The IRGC called on employees of American companies in the region to “immediately leave their workplaces,” and urged residents living near the offices of these companies to relocate to a safe place, as “companies actively involved in terrorist plots will face retaliatory measures for every assassination.”
Iran continues to bomb the region
The UAE Ministry of Defense reported during the day that Iran launched 19 missiles and 26 drones at the country on Thursday. According to the ministry, since the beginning of the conflict, the total number of launched missiles has reached 457, and drones — 2038, BBC writes.
The Kuwaiti armed forces stated that over the past 24 hours they intercepted two missiles and 13 drones. The authorities of Qatar, in turn, reported that their air defense systems destroyed all drones directed towards the country.
The Israeli army also reported that on the first day of Passover, Iran launched about 20 missiles at Israel, but none of them reached their target.
On Thursday, Iran continued its missile strikes against Israel. Additionally, around 130 missiles were launched by the Hezbollah group from Lebanon towards northern areas of the country. Yemeni Houthis also announced a new attempt to attack Israel. According to Israeli sources, as a result of the shelling by Hezbollah, four people were injured.
