Amazon says cloud operations in Bahrain disrupted after Iranian threats to US companies

Iran warned that beginning April 1, it would target American companies in response to US and Israel operations in its country.

By Vered Weiss, The Media Line

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for damage at Amazon’s cloud computing center in Bahrain, following earlier threats to target US companies operating in the region, as tensions escalate in the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday that civil defense teams were extinguishing a fire at a company facility. No additional details were provided about casualties or the extent of the damage.

The claim came after Iran warned that beginning April 1 it would target American companies in response to US and Israel operations in its country.

The list of companies identified included Dell, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, HP, Cisco, G42, Invidia, JP Morgan, Tesla, General Electric, Palantir, and Boeing.

In an official statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps linked the threat to what it described as “terrorism” by the United States and Israel in the current conflict.

It said: “You have ignored our repeated warnings regarding the need to cease terrorist activities. Today, a number of Iranian civilians were killed in terrorist attacks carried out by you and by the Israelis. Since American IT and artificial intelligence companies are key components in planning and tracking assassination targets, in response to these acts of terrorism, the main institutions involved in these activities will be legitimate targets for us.”

The statement framed US technology firms as part of military planning and intelligence processes, signaling an expansion of potential targets beyond traditional military or government sites.

Amazon said last week that its Amazon Web Services region in Bahrain experienced disruptions during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, marking the second incident in a month in which the war has affected its operations.

AWS, the company’s cloud computing division, is a core part of its infrastructure and services.