Iran Threatens to Cut Undersea Cables in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated media Tasnim has publicly identified the undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz as high-risk targets, warning that damage to multiple main cables could lead to widespread network disruptions in the Persian Gulf region.
This strait area hosts several important cables connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa, carrying 17%-30% of global intercontinental traffic. Iran is using this to expand its asymmetric deterrence options in conflicts.
Global telecom operators and cloud service providers are urgently assessing backup routes, shifting funding from digital infrastructure reliant on Hormuz to redundant paths and satellite backups. Iran gains additional strategic leverage, putting pressure on financial, technology, and data center operators dependent on this strait.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Iran has previously targeted data centers in Bahrain and the UAE with drone strikes. Tasnim's identification of undersea cables continues its asymmetric strategy of expanding from energy chokepoints (oil) to digital chokepoints. Earlier attacks on Red Sea cables by Houthi forces have demonstrated the feasibility of similar tactics.
In terms of capital pathways, Iran's "threat as information" strategy allows it to increase opponents' defense costs without actual engagement, while positioning undersea cables alongside oil transport as strategic assets. This guides global capital towards satellite backups like Starlink and non-Hormuz routing infrastructure, accelerating a reallocation of capital under a dual deterrence of "traditional energy + digital infrastructure."
Similar to previous incidents of accidental or deliberate disruptions of Red Sea cables, this situation marks a transition in Middle Eastern conflicts from "energy blockades" to "digital infrastructure deterrence." Hormuz has become a dual chokepoint for both oil and data.
This fundamentally represents a restructuring of the supply chain: the traditional reliance on undersea cables that carry 99% of global internet traffic is being disrupted by Iran's military reach, forcing a reassessment of supply chain resilience in the digital economy and reconstructing global data transmission from "geographically optimal routing" to an infrastructure mechanism of "geopolitical risk diversification + satellite hybrid."