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Iran strikes on Amazon data centers cause data loss
The gist
AWS says Iranian strikes on its Middle East data centers caused permanent customer data loss.
The damage exceeds what multi-zone cloud backups are designed to survive.
How it unfolded
- Mar 2, 2026A Planet Labs satellite image shows a top-down view of an Amazon data center in Abu Dhabi, UAE, damaged by an Iranian drone strike.
- Early March 2026Two of Amazon's three AWS Middle East cloud availability zones are disrupted after strikes on or near data centers in UAE and Bahrain, causing fire, water damage and outages; more than 130 AWS services are affected.
- April 2026Bahrain's situation worsens as a second availability zone is disrupted, taking the region completely offline.