Iran has drawn up detailed plans to attack undersea communications cables in the Persian Gulf if the United States and Israel launch new strikes on the country, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials did not specify how or where the attacks could be carried out. However, one of them said that Iran would try to prevent subsequent repairs to prolong the disruption of communications, including internet connections.
„If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines – from undersea cables to military bases, including secret ones,“ said one of the officials.Seven cables under the Strait of Hormuz
The deputy head of political affairs for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Yadollah Javani, said on October 21 that Iran could attack seven major internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure is attacked.
Undersea cables carry about 99% of the world's internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union. According to Alan Molden, research director at TeleGeography, less than 1% of international data capacity passes through the Strait of Hormuz. This means that any attack would most severely impact regional connectivity, with the global impact likely to be more limited.
A few lines down could slow down internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing. The consequences will depend on the ability to reroute traffic and the available capacity of alternative connections.
Repairs in a conflict zone
Repairing cables in a wartime environment can be hampered by high insurance costs and delays in obtaining permits to work in territorial waters. Terrestrial communications can partially absorb the traffic, and Gulf states and US technology companies are investing in additional infrastructure.
Iranian senior security official Mohsen Rezaei warned in October that US-linked data centers and artificial intelligence facilities in the region could be targeted in a new conflict. In March, Iranian strikes hit two Amazon Web Services sites in the United Arab Emirates and damaged infrastructure near a company site in Bahrain.
Reuters said the Red Sea could be a more significant potential target than the Strait of Hormuz, especially with support from Iran’s allies in Yemen’s Houthi movement. Tehran has not publicly announced plans to attack cables there.
The U.S. State Department and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. There was no immediate response from Gulf states. Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to invest more than $400 million in undersea and terrestrial connectivity in the Middle East by 2030.
Sources: aol.com, straitstimes.com, apnews.com