Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Thursday that it had struck a data center linked to Oracle in Dubai as part of its ongoing conflict with the United States and American technology companies in the region. However, Dubai authorities quickly denied that any such strike had taken place. Reports also indicated that an Amazon-related facility in Bahrain was targeted, with Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior confirming that a strike caused a fire at a company facility believed to be operated by Batelco, which hosts infrastructure for Amazon Web Services.
Days earlier, the IRGC had named Oracle among several U.S. corporations it accuses of supporting American and Israeli military operations, alongside Apple, Boeing, Cisco, Google, HP, IBM, Meta, and Microsoft. Oracle was specifically highlighted due to its cloud and AI contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as the longstanding ties of its chairman, Larry Ellison, with Israel. In addition to tech-related targets, Iranian strikes also focused on aluminum and steel industries in Bahrain and the UAE, as well as Rafael arms facilities in Israel.
While authorities in the UAE have not confirmed any successful strike on infrastructure in Dubai, the incident underscores the growing importance of AI data centers as high-value targets. Facilities equipped with advanced hardware can be worth billions of dollars, far exceeding the cost of traditional industrial or military targets. A large-scale AI data center can house hardware valued in the billions even before accounting for supporting infrastructure such as networking, cooling, and power systems, significantly increasing the potential financial impact of any attack.
Although regional officials have stated that many incoming strikes are intercepted, investigations suggest that not all incidents are fully reported, meaning the true extent of damage may not always be publicly disclosed.
