Iranian drone strikes caused permanent data loss for AWS customers in Bahrain and UAE regions, with Amazon unable to restore access to some resources after infrastructure damage.
<p>Half a year after Iranian drone strikes knocked out multiple Amazon data centers, the US tech company has acknowledged the permanent loss of some customer data that was hosted in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>Amazon Web Services was “unable to restore access to the resources and data” hosted in some of the war-damaged data centers, according to an <a href="https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status">AWS dashboard update</a> posted on September 15. The development was first <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/amazons-aws-is-unable-restore-access-bahrain-one-uae-cloud-data-zone-after-war-2026-09-15">reported by Reuters</a> and suggests that the Iranian strikes inflicted catastrophic damage on the data centers.</p>
<p>Customer data was irretrievably lost in one of three <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-infrastructure/latest/regions/aws-availability-zones.html">AWS availability zones</a> in the United Arab Emirates region, specifically the mec1-az2 availability zone. Each availability zone is serviced by one or more Amazon data centers.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/#comments">Comments</a></p>
# Iran strikes on Amazon data centers caused permanent loss of customer data
Source: [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/)
Half a year after Iranian drone strikes knocked out multiple Amazon data centers, the US tech company has acknowledged the permanent loss of some customer data that was hosted in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates\.
Amazon Web Services was “unable to restore access to the resources and data” hosted in some of the war\-damaged data centers, according to an[AWS dashboard update](https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status)posted on September 15\. The development was first[reported by Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/amazons-aws-is-unable-restore-access-bahrain-one-uae-cloud-data-zone-after-war-2026-09-15)and suggests that the Iranian strikes inflicted catastrophic damage on the data centers\.
Customer data was irretrievably lost in one of three[AWS availability zones](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-infrastructure/latest/regions/aws-availability-zones.html)in the United Arab Emirates region, specifically the mec1\-az2 availability zone\. Each availability zone is serviced by one or more Amazon data centers\.
The company is still working on “recovering regional resources” and restoring resources hosted in the other two availability zones in the United Arab Emirates\. The AWS update described ongoing work to replace “affected infrastructure” and promised to update customers on a restoration of services in the coming months\.
But the destruction was apparently even more widespread for the data centers in the Bahrain region, because Amazon said it was unable to restore access to resources and data across all three availability zones there\.
“The damage to our infrastructure spanned multiple Availability Zones and exceeded what our regional and multi\-AZ services are designed to withstand,” the AWS update said\.
Iranian drone strikes have caused permanent data loss at Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the UAE, highlighting vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure and geopolitical risks to tech systems.
Satellite imagery confirms new Iranian missile and drone strikes damaged Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the UAE, while Houthi attacks threaten Saudi oil exports, signaling a widening Middle East conflict.
AWS has reported that it cannot restore some data from its Middle East facilities after they were struck by Iranian attacks, highlighting the vulnerabilities of cloud infrastructure to geopolitical conflicts.
Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers have reportedly caused permanent loss of customer data, as indicated in a social media post referencing Ars Technica.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have destroyed an Amazon data center in Bahrain, escalating tensions in the region's cyber and physical infrastructure conflicts.