Key Highlights
- Drone attacks linked to Iran tensions damaged AWS facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
- AWS CEO Matt Garman stated round-the-clock teams are deployed to maintain regional service availability.
- Multiple AWS cloud services remain offline across both Middle Eastern regions.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy publicly claimed responsibility for targeting Amazon’s Bahrain facilities.
- Escalating energy expenses and helium shortages compound operational challenges.
Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped 3.68%, gaining $7.87 in extended trading, even as investors absorbed reports of significant damage to the company’s cloud computing infrastructure.
Amazon Web Services faces an uphill battle to restore full functionality to its Middle Eastern cloud operations following drone attacks that struck facilities in Bahrain and the UAE. These incidents stem from the intensifying Iran conflict that surged in February.
During his appearance at the HumanX conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, AWS CEO Matt Garman spoke candidly about the crisis. “It’s a really difficult situation, and we’re working incredibly hard,” Garman revealed to CNBC. “We have teams, 24/7, working to make sure that we can keep our infrastructure up for our customers in that region.”
Multiple cloud services spanning the Bahrain and UAE availability zones continue experiencing disruptions, based on AWS’s public status dashboard. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy declared last week that it deliberately struck Amazon’s Bahrain data center operations. While AWS refused to address that specific claim, the company referenced a previous statement acknowledging the Bahrain region “has been disrupted as a result of the ongoing conflict.”
Extended Outages Plague Two Critical Regions
Restoring full operations will require substantial time and resources. AWS established its Bahrain presence in 2019 and expanded to the UAE in 2022 — both deployments targeted the expanding appetite for cloud computing throughout the Middle East, serving government entities and banking sectors.
The magnitude of these service interruptions creates significant headaches for enterprise clients who selected these zones for data sovereignty compliance. Numerous organizations maintain Middle Eastern operations precisely because local laws mandate domestic data storage — shifting workloads to European or Asian regions often violates regulatory requirements.
The broader conflict compounds financial pressures. Regional energy costs have surged since hostilities commenced in February. Cloud computing facilities, particularly those supporting artificial intelligence workloads, consume massive amounts of electricity. Helium procurement has grown increasingly difficult as well. Qatar supplies over one-third of global helium production, yet transportation through the Strait of Hormuz faces severe restrictions.
President Trump issued warnings Monday threatening civilian infrastructure strikes unless Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz, triggering sharp increases in crude oil prices.
AWS Maintains Long-Term Regional Commitment
Notwithstanding current disruptions, Garman expressed confidence in the region’s future prospects.
“There’s a fantastic entrepreneurial spirit,” he noted. “There’s a willingness to invest. And so our and my excitement about investing long term in that region is just as strong as it’s ever been.”
Google, Microsoft, and Oracle maintain existing or developing data center infrastructure throughout the Middle East. Each provider confronts identical challenges regarding service continuity guarantees when physical assets face military threats.
An AWS representative acknowledged the Bahrain disruption while declining to provide restoration timelines. The company’s operational status dashboard continued displaying numerous unavailable services across Bahrain and UAE regions through Tuesday afternoon.
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