Iran threatens Hormuz cables as strait carries less than 1% of international bandwidth

Key Facts

Mohsen Rezaei threatened to target cables, data centers and artificial intelligence facilities in the region if heavy fighting resumes, according to Associated Press coverage published on 11 October 2026. He said targets would include "cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities and other sites in the region," linking the threat against digital infrastructure to renewed military confrontation. His remarks follow an earlier warning by Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Hossein Mohebi that the geographical scope of the war would expand in response to U.S. escalation. In remarks reported by the Associated Press on 21 September 2026, Mohebi said Iran would change the "geography of the war" if the United States escalated the conflict. Both positions link the scope of Iran's response to the course of the fighting, with Rezaei naming telecommunications and data facilities among the sites threatened with attack.

Less than 1% of global international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to an estimate cited by The National from an International Cable Protection Committee official, based on analysis by TeleGeography. The estimate appeared in a report published on 18 May 2026 examining submarine cables passing through the strait and their share of international data traffic. The committee counted 5 active submarine cable system segments in Hormuz at the time, according to the same report. Globally, submarine cables carry more than 99% of international data exchanges, according to the International Telecommunication Union. These networks therefore play the main role in carrying data between countries, while routes through Hormuz account for less than 1% of international bandwidth, according to the estimate published in May.

Submarine cable cuts in the Red Sea have previously affected internet users in parts of Asia and the Middle East, according to an incident documented by the Associated Press. Internet access in those areas was disrupted following the cable cuts, whose cause was not immediately clear. Across the global network, more than 170 submarine cable repairs were reported during 2025, according to the International Telecommunication Union. The union identifies accidental human activities, including fishing and anchoring, as leading causes of damage to these cables at sea. The main vulnerabilities it identifies include interactions between submarine infrastructure and these activities, alongside the Red Sea incident that affected connectivity services in widely separated regions.

In conflict zones, decisions on cable repairs are affected by the risks of fighting and the presence of mines, according to Reuters, bringing military considerations into the process of restoring service. These decisions involve repair ship owners and insurers, whose positions may be influenced by the possibility of damage to vessels working in conflict-affected areas. As part of efforts to strengthen network resilience, the Submarine Cable Resilience Summit declaration, published by the International Telecommunication Union on 27 February 2025, calls for diversifying cable routes. The declaration also includes diversifying landing points to strengthen resilience and continuity of connectivity across submarine networks. It also calls for facilitating timely cable deployment and repair, combining multiple routes and landing points with the swift execution of construction and maintenance work.

On the political front surrounding the strait, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Hormuz would not reopen until 7 conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding were met. In remarks published by The National on 4 October 2026, he said "the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding are met." Ghalibaf thus linked his country's position on reopening the strait to the implementation of the conditions based on the memorandum, extending the negotiations surrounding navigation. Amid exchanges between Tehran and Washington, Rezaei described the latest U.S. response to the Iranian proposal as "insufficient," according to the Associated Press. Ghalibaf also announced plans to establish a "Gulf data authority," according to The National, adding data to Iran's positions on the region.

In the latest diplomatic move, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Tehran that the countries agreed in rejecting military solutions to the region's issues. In coverage published on 19 October 2026, The National quoted him as saying the shared position with Russia was that "the region's issues have no military solution." During the same initiative, Lavrov presented an updated Russian plan for collective security in the Gulf, placing direct dialogue between the region's countries at the center of Moscow's vision. The plan includes dialogue between coastal states and neighboring countries, including Iraq and Jordan, according to the newspaper. The approach presented by the Russian minister rests on involving these countries in direct dialogue on collective security in the Gulf, alongside the stated Iranian-Russian position that there is no military solution.