# Iran Drone Strikes Cause Permanent Data Loss in Middle East

> Iranian strikes permanently erase cloud data in Bahrain and UAE
- Title: Iran Drone Strikes Cause Permanent Data Loss in Middle East
- Summary: Iranian strikes permanently erase cloud data in Bahrain and UAE AWS customers in Bahrain lost all data while UAE customers only lost one availability zone
- Keywords: aws, bahrain, united arab emirates, iran, data center, military strikes, technology, Drone, Strikes, Cause, Permanent, Data
- Source: PCMAG — https://pcmag.com/news/gone-forever-iran-drone-strikes-cause-permanent-data-loss-in-middle-east
- Author: Will McCurdy
- Published: 2026-09-20T13:34:48+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: aws, bahrain, united arab emirates, iran, data center, military strikes, technology
## Cloud Data Vulnerable
Amazon AWS customers in Bahrain and UAE lost permanent data after Iranian strikes began in March.

> After a thorough assessment, we have determined that we are unable to restore access to the resources and data hosted exclusively in this Region
## Bahrain More Affected
AWS couldn't restore access in all three Bahrain availability zones versus one in UAE.
## Data Recovery Efforts
Most AWS customers migrated data before strikes and restored operations using backups.
## Financial Impact
AWS paid $150 million in credits to Middle East customers due to attacks.
## Warzone Risk
Data centers are now secondary military targets after Iran and Russia strike infrastructure.
## Key takeaway

AWS customers in Bahrain lost all data while UAE customers only lost one availability zone