JAKARTA \u2014 Iran has threatened to destroy data centres, communications\ncable networks and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities owned by or\nlinked to US interests in the Persian Gulf if the war escalates again.\nThe threat marks an expansion of Tehran\u2019s strategic targets, from\nmilitary bases and energy infrastructure to technology facilities that\nsupport the international digital economy.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen\nRezaei, made the threat on Sunday (11 October 2026), as indirect\nnegotiations between Washington and Tehran again reached an impasse. The\nformer commander of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)\nspecifically referred to valuable US technology assets in the United\nArab Emirates (UAE) and areas around the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran\nhad not previously included on its list of targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not included these assets on our list of targets. But if war\nbreaks out, many communications cables, data centres, AI facilities and\nvarious other facilities will be destroyed,\u201d Rezaei said, according to\nIran\u2019s state broadcaster Press TV on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Rezaei said Iran still had military capabilities that it had not\nfully used in previous confrontations with the United States and Israel.\nHe warned that Tehran would demonstrate these new capabilities if\nWashington launched further attacks on Iranian territory.<\/p>\n
The statement signals a significant shift in Tehran\u2019s strategic\ncalculations. Iran is no longer focusing solely on US military\ninstallations in the Middle East, but also on commercial infrastructure\nthat plays a role in cloud computing, data processing, financial systems\nand AI development.<\/p>\n
The threat is conditional on a renewed escalation of the war; it is\nnot an announcement that new attacks on AI facilities have taken place.\nAs of the statement, there was no verified evidence that Iran had begun\na new operation to destroy data centres in response to Rezaei\u2019s warning\non 11 October.<\/p>\n
Rezaei\u2019s threat is not without precedent. In March 2026, several\nAmazon Web Services (AWS) data centre facilities in the UAE and Bahrain\nwere damaged by drone attacks during the conflict between Iran, the\nUnited States and Israel.<\/p>\n
The Financial Times reported in March 2026 that the attack on AWS\nfacilities was a significant development in modern warfare. For the\nfirst time in that conflict, a US technology company\u2019s cloud-computing\ninfrastructure had become the direct target of a military attack.<\/p>\n
AWS confirmed on 2 March 2026 that two of its facilities in the UAE\nhad been directly hit by drones. A facility in Bahrain was also damaged\nby a drone attack near its operational site.<\/p>\n
The impact went beyond physical damage to buildings. Disruptions to\npower supplies, connectivity and cooling systems prevented some\ncloud-computing services from operating normally, prompting customers to\nmove applications and data to AWS service centres in other regions.<\/p>\n
The consequences of the attacks continued for months. In a\nservice-status update on 15 September 2026, AWS said it could not\nrestore access to some resources and data stored only in one of its\noperational zones in the UAE.<\/p>\n
The situation in Bahrain was more serious, as the damage exceeded the\nregion\u2019s service-recovery capabilities. AWS said some data stored only\nin Bahrain could not be accessed again, although many customers had\nalready moved their operations to other regions.<\/p>\n
In a report on 10 May 2026, Germany\u2019s Deutsche Welle described the\nattacks on AWS facilities as a warning about the vulnerability of\ndigital infrastructure. It said damage to data centres could affect\nbanking transactions, payment systems, public services and economic\nactivity dependent on cloud-computing networks.<\/p>\n
The attacks show that a commercial technology facility can have\nconsequences far beyond damage to its buildings. Disruption at a single\ncomputing centre serving many customers could spread across multiple\neconomic sectors, particularly when backup systems are unavailable or\nlocated at the same facility.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/iran-threatens-to-destroy-data-centres-and-ai-facilities-in-the-gulf-1791773548", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }