AWS urges customers to relocate from Middle East data centers after prolonged outages
More than six months after drone strikes damaged AWS data centers in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, Amazon has advised customers to move their data to other regions, with no timeline for repairs. The attacks followed US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and the Bahrain facility was later hit by cruise missiles. The UAE is now considering underground data centers to address regional security concerns.
The attacks trace back to February, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory drone and missile assaults on AWS facilities in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. The Bahrain site reportedly took a direct cruise missile hit that Iranian state media claimed destroyed it. Firefighting efforts using water compounded the damage to servers and infrastructure.
The UAE's ambitions as a regional data hub have suffered collateral damage. OpenAI's planned lease for 20% of a 5-gigawatt complex has gone unsigned for over a year. Officials are now exploring underground construction and drone defense systems to reassure prospective partners, though both options would significantly raise costs.
The prolonged outage could disrupt banking and financial services that depend on these regional data centers, potentially affecting businesses and customers across the Gulf. It may also deter foreign tech investment in the UAE, as companies weigh geopolitical risk against the country's data-processing ambitions. Underground facilities and drone defenses could raise costs, which may ultimately be passed to cloud customers worldwide.