Amazon Web Services (AWS) has confirmed the permanent loss of customer data in its Middle East (Bahrain) region, designated me-south-1, and in one availability zone of its Middle East (UAE) region, me-central-1. The announcement, made in two updates on September 15, comes six months after Iranian drone strikes impacted AWS infrastructure in the region.
For customers in Bahrain, AWS stated it is unable to restore access to resources and data hosted exclusively in the me-south-1 region. The company indicated that the damage in Bahrain affected multiple availability zones and surpassed the capacity of its redundancy measures. AWS has committed to providing a further update for Bahrain in early 2027.
In the UAE, the data loss is confined to a single availability zone, mec1-az2, within the me-central-1 region. AWS reported that it cannot restore access to resources and data stored exclusively in this specific zone. Work is ongoing for the other two availability zones in the UAE, mec1-az1 and mec1-az3, as well as for shared regional infrastructure. AWS expects to provide an update on service restoration in the UAE in the coming months.
The Iranian strikes, which began in early March, were reportedly in retaliation for a joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Gulf states hosting American military bases, including the UAE and Bahrain, became targets.
AWS initially reported that two of its facilities in the UAE were directly struck. In Bahrain, a drone strike in close proximity to one of its facilities caused physical damage to the infrastructure. These initial strikes resulted in structural damage, power disruptions, and in some instances, required fire suppression activities that led to additional water damage.
The situation in Bahrain deteriorated in the weeks following the initial attacks. A second availability zone in the region was disrupted in April, leading to the entire me-south-1 region going offline.
AWS noted that most customers in both affected regions had already relocated their data prior to the losses becoming permanent. This was achieved by utilizing backups where available or by implementing alternative solutions to mitigate the impact of inaccessible data. AWS has also stated it has notified relevant authorities and continues to collaborate with them.
