Iran Strikes Leave Amazon Availability Zones “Hard Down” in Bahrain and Dubai, Per Internal AWS Communication
Amazon tells its employees to deprioritize these regions as the Iran war deals meaningful damage to its infrastructure in the Gulf.
Iranian military actions have caused significant disruptions to Amazon Web Services (AWS) availability zones in Bahrain and Dubai, leaving them "hard down" and impairing operations for an extended period, according to internal AWS communications. The strikes have caused substantial damage to AWS infrastructure in the Gulf region, prompting Amazon to advise its employees to deprioritize these regions.
The internal memo, reviewed by Big Technology, highlighted that the two affected regions continue to be impaired, with services not expected to operate at normal levels of redundancy and resiliency. Amazon is actively working to free up capacity in the region for customers and has advised services to scale to the minimal footprint required to support customer migration.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson referred to a company blog post about the disruptions. The post emphasized that Amazon is supporting affected customers, helping them migrate to alternate AWS regions, with many already successfully operating their applications from other parts of the world. The spokesperson reiterated the company's advice for those with workloads in the affected regions to continue migrating to other locations.
The situation in the Gulf has escalated as the conflict between Iran and the United States nears its sixth week. Iran has targeted AWS infrastructure in the region as part of its economic strategy, with Bahrain facilities hit multiple times, including a recent strike that caused a fire. AWS facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also sustained multiple hits.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened other U.S. tech giants, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple, indicating a broader strategic targeting of technology companies in the region. Both Bahrain and Dubai have three "availability zones" or clusters of compute, with two zones in each location being "hard down" and one being "impaired but functioning," according to the internal communication.
The disruptions in Bahrain and Dubai underscore the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the Gulf region and the potential for collateral damage in ongoing conflicts. As the situation evolves, AWS and other technology companies must navigate the challenges posed by geopolitical tensions and ensure the resilience of their global operations.
