Reference News Network, March 16 report: The article titled "The Target of Retaliation: Why Did Iran Attack the Data Centers of Western Digital Giants?" was published on the TASS website on March 10, authored by Anton Gheit. The following is a compilation of the article:
In recent weeks, the complex political situation in the Middle East has entered a stage described by experienced diplomats as "turbulent and unpredictable."
Contrary to the Pentagon's expectations, the Iranian armed forces command system did not completely collapse. Iran not only decided to retaliate but also implemented a strategy that has raised many questions among Western military analysts and experts around the world. This strategy targeted civilian infrastructure, particularly data centers of American company Amazon in Bahrain and the UAE. These attacks are neither desperate acts nor "terrorism" as Western media tries to portray them, but rather calculated actions within the framework of the theory of "hybrid attrition warfare."
The recent attacks by Iranian drones on Amazon Web Services (AWS) data processing centers have opened an unexpected chapter in the development of the Middle East conflict. This is the first time in modern warfare that one side has specifically targeted commercial cloud computing infrastructure, triggering ripple effects far beyond physical destruction. These strikes disrupted the daily lives of millions, undermined investors' confidence in the technological ambitions of the Gulf Arab states, and raised questions about the vulnerability of digital infrastructure, which forms the basis of modern economic development.
The decision by Iran's political and military leadership to strike data centers rather than limit themselves to conventional military targets reflects a clear strategic logic. From the perspective of Tehran's official stance, AWS and similar American technology companies are far from neutral players merely pursuing commercial interests in the Gulf region. The Iranian government considers them not as suppliers of civilian commercial services, but as indispensable components of military intelligence agencies targeting Iran.
Deeper geopolitical considerations should not be overlooked either. The United States has invested significant diplomatic resources to encourage Gulf Arab states to build artificial intelligence infrastructure, to counter China's growing technological influence in southern Eurasia and Africa.
Contemporary digital economies rely on interconnected cloud service architectures, meaning that any failure can quickly affect numerous services simultaneously, and this risk persists.
The consequences of Iran's retaliation have been quite evident—possibly much more significant than attempts using missiles and drones to attack the numerous U.S. military bases across the Middle East or the aircraft carrier battle groups near Iran. Within minutes, banking applications in the UAE and Bahrain had crashed, trading platforms had collapsed, and payment systems had gone offline. According to industry experts, the losses caused by data center failures for affected companies amounted to approximately $6,000 per minute. Not only are the lost profits difficult to calculate, but even the substantial costs already incurred, as well as the approximate figures of various insurance claims and penalties, are hard to estimate.
The long-term consequences of this retaliatory action may be even more severe. Amazon has advised its customers to move their businesses in the Middle East to other regions and directly admitted that "the ongoing conflicts in the region mean that the overall operating environment in the Middle East remains full of uncertainty." This advice is no small matter because the process of "business relocation" is complex, costly, and often involves cumbersome legal procedures. For example, many countries have data sovereignty regulations requiring specific information to be retained within the country. This does not even include issues such as protecting commercial secrets and complying with insurance obligation clauses.
The attacks have also raised practical issues that were rarely taken seriously before. Most data centers in the world were never designed with air defense requirements in mind. Data centers are usually large complexes equipped with large cooling systems, making them easy to identify and difficult to protect. There is every reason to believe that future new data center projects may need to be equipped with military air defense systems. The prospect of equipping civilian commercial facilities with anti-missile systems marks a significant shift in the perception of the West, where the boundaries between civilian and military infrastructure are becoming increasingly blurred. Fundamentally, we are witnessing a major transformation in modern conflict response strategies in the era of interdependent digital technology and economy.
For the international community, this incident is a reminder that the globalized digital economy has created new vulnerabilities beyond traditional military realms. (Translated by Han Ziling, Li Ran)
Original source: toutiao.com/article/7617755170503492105/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.