“Infrastructure War”: Iran Targets US Tech Giants Across Israel and the Gulf
IRGC labels Google, Amazon, and Nvidia facilities as "legitimate targets" as drone strikes hit regional data centers.
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UBAI — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has designated U.S. tech infrastructure across Israel and the Gulf as military targets, publishing a list that identifies offices for Google, Amazon, and Nvidia as “legitimate military objectives.”
The list, released Wednesday, March 11, via the state-aligned Tasnim News Agency, identifies specific data centers and R&D hubs in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. The IRGC asserts that these facilities are no longer civilian assets but “nerve centers” providing critical intelligence and logistical support for U.S. and Israeli military operations.
The threat has moved beyond rhetoric. Over the past week, Iranian “one-way” drones struck an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in Bahrain and targeted two additional facilities in the United Arab Emirates. The IRGC claimed responsibility for the strikes, which caused fires, structural damage, and widespread service outages, marking the first time commercial cloud infrastructure has been directly targeted in the 12-day-old conflict.
With its largest R&D base outside the U.S. located in Israel, chip giant Nvidia has scrambled to secure over 5,000 employees as its Haifa and Tel Aviv offices appear on the IRGC list. Beyond tech, the Iranian joint military command has warned that banks and financial institutions in Dubai and Manama are now considered hostile zones, advising civilians to maintain a one-kilometer radius from these sites. Analysts warn that a sustained “infrastructure war” could cripple regional logistics, banking, and government digital services that rely on the targeted “digital backbone.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. State Department had not issued a formal response to the target list. Several tech firms operating in the region have begun migrating workloads away from affected infrastructure and reviewing contingency plans. In Tehran, residents report heavy anti-aircraft fire as the war reaches a new phase of economic and digital attrition.
