Iran has drawn up plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel launch fresh attacks, two senior Iranian security officials.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the plans included efforts to prolong disruptions by preventing repairs to damaged cables, potentially affecting internet connectivity and other communications.
One official warned that Iran would no longer observe any “red lines” if attacked, citing undersea cables and military bases, including covert facilities, as possible targets.
The official also warned Washington against “playing with fire” and claimed Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could destroy them.
On Wednesday, Yadollah Javani, deputy head of political affairs for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tehran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.
Undersea cables carry about 99 per cent of global internet traffic. However, Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography, said less than one per cent of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, limiting the potential global impact of attacks in the area.
The strait separates Iran and Oman and connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
The United States Department of State and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Gulf states had not immediately commented on the reported threats.
The reported plans reflect Tehran’s position that any renewed US military campaign would prompt a stronger response than previous confrontations.
Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei warned this month that US-linked digital infrastructure across the Gulf, including data centres and artificial intelligence facilities, could be targeted in another conflict.
One of the officials told Reuters that Gulf states, which have invested heavily in technology infrastructure, should hold Washington responsible for any damage to undersea cables.
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Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the threats appeared intended to deter renewed conflict by raising concerns among Gulf governments and US companies over the security of their investments.
He said Tehran wanted Gulf states and corporate executives to pressure US President Donald Trump over the risks his policies could pose to regional investment plans.
Multiple cable cuts could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing. Mauldin said the scale of disruption would depend on how quickly operators rerouted traffic and the capacity available on alternative connections.
Experts warned that repairs could prove difficult during wartime, with higher insurance costs and delays in securing permits to enter territorial waters potentially prolonging outages.
The Red Sea could offer a more significant target than the Strait of Hormuz, particularly if Iran received support from its Houthi allies in Yemen. However, Tehran has not publicly announced plans to target cables in the Red Sea.
Mauldin said routes through the Red Sea account for about three per cent of global international internet demand and around 10 per cent of traffic travelling between regions.
Gulf governments have invested heavily in technology infrastructure as they seek to diversify their economies beyond oil and establish themselves as global artificial intelligence hubs.
Iranian strikes directly hit two Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates in March and damaged infrastructure near one of its facilities in Bahrain. At the height of the conflict that month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also named US technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Apple and Nvidia, as legitimate targets.
Land-based networks can provide alternative routes for internet traffic, while Gulf states and US technology companies are investing in additional infrastructure to improve resilience.
Microsoft plans to invest more than $400 million in subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.
Reuters
