Manama, Bahrain – March 24, 2026 – The digital backbone of countless businesses, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has once again felt the tremors of geopolitical instability. For the second time this month, AWS operations in Bahrain have been significantly disrupted, a consequence of escalating drone activity directly linked to the ongoing US-Iran conflict in the Middle East [1, 2]. This alarming development, confirmed by Amazon today, March 24, 2026, marks a critical juncture for cloud computing, signaling a stark reality: vital technology infrastructure is increasingly becoming a strategic target in modern warfare. [1, 9]
The repeated disruptions to AWS's crucial Bahrain region, a cornerstone of its Middle East cloud presence, send a potent message to organizations worldwide. The question is no longer if geopolitical tensions can impact cloud services, but how frequently and with what severity. For CIOs, IT leaders, and business strategists, understanding the evolving threat landscape and fortifying digital resilience has become an immediate and paramount priority. [21, 17]
The current incident in Bahrain follows closely on the heels of earlier drone strikes this month that affected AWS facilities in both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These prior attacks resulted in direct hits on two AWS facilities in the UAE, while in Bahrain, a drone strike in close proximity to an AWS facility caused substantial operational impact [1, 9].
The consequences of these attacks were severe, encompassing structural damage to data center infrastructure, widespread power supply disruptions, connectivity issues, and even fires that necessitated emergency suppression systems, leading to additional water damage. Amazon acknowledged that recovery from these earlier incidents would be "prolonged" given the physical damage inflicted [9, 13].
Today's renewed disruption in Bahrain underscores the persistent and unpredictable nature of the conflict. While full details on the extent of the current outage remain undisclosed by Amazon, the company has confirmed it is actively assisting customers in migrating their workloads to alternate AWS regions to maintain continuity [2, 3]. This proactive measure, while essential, highlights the severity of the situation and the critical need for businesses to have robust multi-region strategies.
The backdrop to these cloud disruptions is an intensifying US-Iran conflict, which has entered its fourth week, reverberating across the Middle East with escalating missile and drone strikes. Reports indicate that Iran has launched retaliatory drone and missile attacks across the region, targeting US bases and allied nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain [1, 9].
What makes these events particularly significant is the explicit targeting of technology infrastructure. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for earlier attacks, citing the data centers' role in supporting US military and intelligence networks [13, 18]. Furthermore, an IRGC-affiliated news outlet has reportedly published a list of 29 "tech targets" across Bahrain, Israel, Qatar, and the UAE, including facilities belonging to AWS, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir, deeming them "legitimate" targets associated with Israel [15].
This marks a profound shift in military strategy, where data centers, once considered relatively immune, are now viewed as critical national infrastructure and viable targets. As Virginia Tech cybersecurity expert Murat Kantarcioglu noted
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Featured image by Abdelrahman Ismail on Unsplash
