Amazon has closed its fulfillment center operations in Abu Dhabi and suspended delivery services across the region in response to growing instability sweeping its Middle Eastern network. The e-commerce giant disclosed the situation this week in an internal memo, which said customers in the region were experiencing delays in deliveries and returns due to the situation.
The memo also noted that Amazon employees in Saudi Arabia and Jordan have been asked to stay indoors. This week, many Amazon employees in the region are gradually transitioning to working from home, while business travel to Israel and Lebanon has been suspended.
The memo said no employee safety-related issues have been reported so far.
"Our top priority is the safety of our employees and partners across the region, and we are working closely with local teams to ensure they have the support they need," an Amazon spokesperson said via email.
The disruption highlights how quickly geopolitical tensions can stress global supply chains. Amazon has spent years expanding its logistics network in the Middle East after acquiring Souq.com in 2017 for about $600 million. The UAE is at the heart of the network, which also includes Amazon marketplace platforms in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.
According to the memo, the closure of the Abu Dhabi distribution center is expected to result in reduced network capacity for Amazon's various businesses in the Middle East. The company has put additional operational support on standby to respond to the outage and monitor the situation.
The impact extends far beyond Amazon's own warehouses. Nearly 300,000 third-party sellers in the region are facing delays in shipments and potential order cancellations as logistics channels tighten, according to the memo. Many of these sellers rely on Amazon's fulfillment and cross-border shipping infrastructure to move goods between Gulf countries.
Amazon did not say when delivery services in Abu Dhabi would resume.
The U.S.-Iran conflict in the region also caused a power outage at one of Amazon's data centers, the company announced on Sunday. Amazon said it may take at least a day to repair the damage.