Must meet US' National Institute of Standards and Technology requirements, despite tensions between two nations
Iran's Information Technology Organization (ITOI) is seeking cloud computing service providers for use by the government.
As first reported by The Register, the government IT body has posted a notification that it is looking to assess cloud players to potentially host government services.
Notably, the cloud providers must be compliant with the US' National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-145 definition of cloud computing, despite Iran and the US having less than friendly relations.
Other standards being referred to by the ITOI include the ISO 27017 and ISO 27018, which cover security and data protection.
Iran's government is open to operators capable of offering Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS), and is open to public, private, hybrid, or community cloud solutions.
Once assessed, cloud providers will be awarded a "cloud service rating certificate" that will include them on a list of authorized providers.
While the ITOI includes a US standard within its guidelines for cloud providers, it is unlikely that any US cloud computing providers will be considered, with the US holding a trade embargo against Iran since 1995, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banning direct talks with the US in 2018. Many other jurisdictions have also made doing business with Iran an offense.
Tensions between Iran and the US have been ongoing since the Iranian Revolution, following which the two have had no formal diplomatic relations, instead interacting through other countries. In more recent years, tensions have increased with the US Department of Justice claiming that Iran has attempted to assassinate US officials and dissidents, including current President Donald Trump.
These tensions have only increased since the outbreak of war in Gaza between Israel and Palestine. US support of Israel has long been a point of contention for Iran. Following Israel's surprise attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities in June 2025, the US also bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran under "Operation Midnight Hammer." The conflict has since ended.
Throughout the conflict with Israel, Iran experienced significant connectivity issues amidst strikes and cyberattacks, after which the country closed its Internet. The Register notes that, prior to the war, the ITOI's RSS newsfeed was quiet for several months, but has become more active since the conflict ended.
Following the US, China is home to some of the most well-established cloud computing providers, including Alibaba Cloud, Huawei, and Tencent. China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021.
Iran has a relatively small data center market, with DataCenterMap listing just 20 facilities in the country, the majority of which are located in Tehran. Operators include MTN, Pars Online, Asiatech, and Afranet.
