AWS says it can’t restore service to Bahrain, UAE facilities 6 months after Iran strikes

Data center infrastructure in the Gulf region faces new security and resilience requirements.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced it cannot restore cloud computing services to its damaged facilities in Bahrain and parts of the United Arab Emirates, over six months after they were struck by drones during the Iran war. AWS stated that the damage to multiple Bahraini sites exceeded the capabilities of its disaster recovery systems. Similarly, one availability zone in the UAE has been deemed unrecoverable. These are the first public updates from AWS since April regarding the March attacks, where two UAE data centers were directly hit and a Bahrain facility was damaged by a nearby strike. The company had previously advised customers to migrate workloads to other regions due to expected instability in the Middle East. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attacks, targeting the Bahrain facility due to AWS's support of the U.S. military.

The inability of AWS to restore services in Bahrain and the UAE highlights a critical vulnerability in cloud infrastructure located in geopolitically sensitive regions. This event signals that even major cloud providers may struggle with significant damage from state-sponsored attacks, potentially impacting business continuity for companies reliant on these specific regions. The long recovery timeline also suggests a re-evaluation of resilience planning and investment in data center security within the Gulf, particularly as demand for AI infrastructure grows.

This incident will likely force a reassessment of where and how hyperscale data centers are built in the Gulf, with increased emphasis on physical security and redundancy measures. Companies considering future investments, such as the UAE Stargate project, may opt for more dispersed or even underground facilities, incorporating advanced defenses like blast-resistant materials and active interception systems. The geopolitical risk associated with the region is now a tangible factor that could influence future deployment strategies and operational costs for cloud services.