Iran Draws Up Plans to Target Gulf Cables, Threatens to Cut 7 in Hormuz
Key Facts
Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack it again, according to two Iranian security officials who spoke to Reuters in a report published on October 23, 2026. The threat puts digital communications infrastructure within the scope of a possible Iranian response, but remains conditional on a new attack. One official said Tehran would seek to prevent repairs to the cables after any strike to prolong disruption to communications, including the internet. The official did not specify a particular means of doing so. Separately, Yadollah Javani, the Revolutionary Guards' deputy for political affairs, said on Wednesday that Iran could target 7 major internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.
An Iranian official broadened the scope of the threat, saying there would be "no red lines" if Iran were attacked, and citing undersea cables and military bases, including secret ones. This suggests the remarks concern multiple potential targets, without the report attributing to the plan any stated aim of disrupting banks or military communications. Reuters said cutting several cables could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing. The scale of disruption would depend on whether data traffic could be rerouted and on the capacity available along alternative routes. The effects could therefore be felt in the continuity of regional digital and commercial services even if the broader impact remained limited.
Global internet traffic relies heavily on undersea infrastructure: submarine cables carry about 99% of the world's internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union. But the Strait of Hormuz carries less than 1% of international bandwidth, according to Alan Mauldin of TeleGeography, which could limit the direct global impact of targeting cables there. The regional share differs from the global total, as disruption to routes serving the region could affect connectivity and services even when the passage accounts for a small share of international capacity. The scale of the impact also depends not only on the number of cables damaged, but on alternative traffic routes and the capacity available on them. The threat thus combines local operational significance with the possibility of a limited effect on international internet traffic as a whole.
Mauldin said the Red Sea could be a more consequential target than the Strait of Hormuz, carrying capacity equivalent to about 3% of global international demand and about 10% of interregional data traffic. The comparison highlights the importance of a cable's location in the network of routes, alongside the number of lines targeted, in assessing the impact of any disruption. Even so, restoring service could become more difficult during wartime: higher insurance costs could raise the cost of repair work, while permits to enter territorial waters could delay the arrival of maintenance vessels. An Iranian official said the country would seek to prevent repairs, which could prolong disruption if crews were unable to reach the site of the damage. The report gave no possible date for any targeting or repairs, as the plans remain contingent on a new attack.
In a parallel effort to strengthen connectivity, Microsoft plans to invest more than $400 million in undersea and terrestrial communications networks in the Middle East by 2030. The company said in September that its global network spans more than 275,000 miles of terrestrial and undersea fiber, and that it had rerouted traffic through Middle Eastern corridors during network disruptions, with limited impact on customers. It also said the Sea-Me-We 6 system has landing points in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. On policy, the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience recommended simplifying permitting, maintenance and repair procedures, and encouraging geographic diversity and redundancy in cable routes. The secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union called for stronger international cooperation on policy, operational readiness and investment decisions, issues gaining importance as the risks of delayed repairs and concentrated routes come into focus.