Suspected Iranian state-sponsored hackers have infiltrated critical infrastructure in Bahrain as tensions continue to rise in the Persian Gulf.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the hacking, reported Wednesday that the hacks were above the normal level of Iranian activity in the region.

Hackers from the country have been linked to multiple attacks in the past. A report from Microsoft Corp. in March said Iranian hackers have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages over the past two years.

The U.S. and its allies are often targeted by the country, Bahrain being both a U.S. ally as well as the host of a U.S. Navy base. That base services ships patrolling the Persian Gulf to enforce sanctions against Iran as well as to protect shipping, the latter making headlines when a U.K. flagged oil tanker was seized by Iranian troops in July.

The Iranian hackers are said to have broken into the computer network of Bahrain’s National Security Agency on Monday as well as the Ministry of Interior and the first deputy prime minister’s office. Previous detected intrusions linked to Iranian hackers included one that targeted Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority July 25, with the hackers shutting down several systems in the process. Aluminum Bahrain, one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East is also named as having been targeted.

The Journal report does note that Bahrain authorities “haven’t definitively attributed the attack to Iran but they have been provided intelligence by the U.S. and others suggesting Iran is behind it.”

The smallest country in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain has been at the forefront of digital innovation in the region, cultivating a fertile tech environment to refine the “new oil” of data. Hosting Amazon Web Services Inc.’s first Middle East and North Africa data hub, the country has doubled down on tech innovation, positioning itself to become a digital country by 2035.

Bahrain is also progressive as Middle Eastern countries go. “The island kingdom of Bahrain is noted among its Middle Eastern neighbors are being one of the most forward-thinking and liberal countries, especially when it comes to the societal role of women,” SiliconANGLE’s livestreaming studio theCUBE reported in October, noting that “the country’s women are making strides in the bleeding-edge world of financial technology.”

Cybersecurity hasn’t been forgotten in the country either. In an interview late last year on theCUBE, John Wood, chief executive officer of Telos Corp., said that the government and business were committed to the cloud, with a special focus on cybersecurity:

Photo: U.S. Central Command