Iranian officials: Tehran has detailed plans to hit Gulf undersea cables if war resumes
Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Persian Gulf if the United States and Israel attack Iran again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters. Their comments followed warnings by Iranian officials that undersea cables in the region could become targets in any renewed conflict if diplomacy with Washington collapses. The two Iranian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave few details and did not say how or where exactly Tehran would carry out such attacks. But one of them said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections. “If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines … from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones,” one of the officials said. The official warned Washington not to “play with fire,” and said Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of political affairs for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Wednesday that Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack. Brig. Gen. Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of the political bureau of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. (CC BY 4.0, sayyed shahab-o- din vajedi, Wikipedia) Undersea cables carry around 99% of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency. But the global impact of such attacks by Iran could be limited as less than 1% of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, said Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography. The strait separates Iran and Oman, linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea. Advertisement The US Department of State and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the Iranian security officials’ remarks. There was no immediate comment from Gulf states. ‘Stronger response’ The plans for possible attacks on undersea cables reflect a conviction in Iran’s leadership that a renewed US military campaign would have to be met with a stronger response than before. Top security official Mohsen Rezaei warned this month that US-linked digital infrastructure across the Gulf, including data centers and AI facilities, could be targeted in a renewed conflict. Washington’s Gulf allies have invested heavily in such infrastructure and they “should hold Washington, not Tehran, responsible for any damage to undersea cables,” the second Iranian security official said. Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said such threats were intended to deter renewed conflict and put pressure on Washington by making Gulf governments and US companies fear for their investments in the region. “Tehran wants Gulf states and corporate executives to press (US President Donald) Trump over the risks his policies pose to their investment plans,” said Vatanka. Advertisement A woman walks past a billboard depicting a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard placing his foot on a US unmanned underwater vehicle that Iran claimed to have seized in the Strait of Hormuz at a square in northern Tehran, Iran, September 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Multiple cable cuts could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing, analysts said. The impact would depend on how operators rerouted traffic and the capacity available on alternative connections, Mauldin said. Restoring connections during wartime could be difficult, experts said, and higher insurance costs and delays in obtaining permits to enter territorial waters could further complicate repairs. The Red Sea could offer a more significant target than the Strait of Hormuz, particularly if Iran had support from its Houthi allies in Yemen, though Tehran has made no public statement indicating it plans to target cables there. The Red Sea carries data between Europe, East Africa and Asia, with capacity routed through it accounting for about 3% of global international demand and around 10% of traffic traveling between regions, Mauldin said. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in technology to diversify beyond oil and become global artificial intelligence hubs, deepening ties with US technology firms. Iranian strikes directly hit two Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE in March and damaged infrastructure near one of its facilities in Bahrain. The IRGC named US tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple and Nvidia as legitimate targets at the height of the war in March. Land-based connections can provide alternative routes for internet traffic, and 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. Help us report truthfully on social media As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos. This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. 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