AWS: Bahrain region unrestorable; one UAE AZ data unrecoverable
CNBC: six months after Iran-war drone damage, AWS says it cannot restore Bahrain-hosted resources/data; one UAE availability zone also unrecoverable, with two other UAE zones still being worked.
Opening
AWS told customers Tuesday it cannot restore access to resources and data hosted exclusively in its Bahrain region after drone-related damage exceeded what its services are designed to withstand. A separate update said resources and data in one UAE availability zone are similarly unrecoverable; AWS continues work on two other affected UAE zones. CNBC notes this is AWS's first public update on the incidents since April; Amazon had said in March that two UAE data centers were directly struck and a Bahrain facility was damaged by a nearby strike. IRGC claimed responsibility. Further Bahrain customer updates expected early 2027; UAE updates "in the coming months."
The numbers
UAE Stargate (May 2025 partners OpenAI, Nvidia, Oracle, Cisco) — expected 5 GW / ~10 square miles — cited by CNBC as context for Gulf AI campus risk; UAE considering dispersing sites and hardening (underground, blast-resistant concrete, interceptors) per Reuters via CNBC.
Why it matters
Permanent regional data loss is a concrete hyperscaler geo-risk print into the Gulf AI buildout story — distinct from soft "eyes Canada" partnership talk the same afternoon.
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