Iran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack it again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters on Friday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gave few details. They did not say how or where Iran would carry out such attacks.
One of the officials said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attack in order to prolong disruption 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,” the official said.
The second official said Gulf states allied with Washington, which have invested heavily in digital infrastructure, “should hold Washington, not Tehran, responsible for any damage to undersea cables.”
Yadollah Javani, 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.
Earlier this month, senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei warned that US-linked digital infrastructure across the Gulf, including data centers and AI facilities, could be targeted in a renewed conflict.
Undersea cables carry around 99% of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency.
Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography, said less than 1% of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which could limit the global impact of such attacks.
Analysts told Reuters that multiple cable cuts could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing. Mauldin said the impact would depend on how operators rerouted traffic and how much capacity was available on alternative links.
Experts said repairs could be difficult in wartime, with higher insurance costs and delays in obtaining permits to enter territorial waters.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the threats were meant to deter a renewed conflict by making Gulf governments and US companies fear for their investments in the region.
The US State Department and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Gulf states, Reuters said.
