Iran’s new weapon in Hormuz? The undersea cables carrying global internet traffic

Iran has choked the global economy by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, 20% of the world's global oil and gas passes through this critical water way. Iran, now, is planning to affect the region in another way, this time by holding the regional internet connection hostage. Tehran is now threatening to impose a tariff on the undersea internet cables that keeps the gulf region online, as these cables too cross the Strait of Hormuz, but on the seabed.

“We will impose fees on internet cables,” said Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari in a social media post. Iranian media further elaborated on the plan and mentioned specific companies, such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, as targets for the imposition.

The undersea Internet cables also called submarine communication carries more than 95% of global internet and data traffic across continents. Stretching thousands of kilometres along the ocean floor, these fibre optic cables connect countries, military networks, data hubs and financial centres. These cables have a strategic value for the world countries as any disruption to the cable could affect stock markets, defence networks and internet connectivity across the regions.

The importance of the cables was highlighted during the 2008 submarine cable disruption, when multiple major cables in the Mediterranean sea near Egypt were damaged, resulting in internet slowdowns across Asia and middle east. India was among the worst affected countries with Banking operations, stock trading and IT services experiencing 60-70% of disruption.

Approximately seven major cables run under the Strait of Hormuz. Notable cables include Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1), which connects Southeast Asia and Egypt to Europe, FALCON, which connects India and Sri Lanka to Gulf countries, and GBI (Gulf Bridge International), which links all Gulf countries, including Iran. Some of these cables terminate in Mumbai.

Any major disruption to the undersea cables in the strait would severely affect the gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran and Oman, Together, these countries have a combined population of more than 6 crores with around 95 lakhs Indian’s living in these countries. The disruption will affect the millions of people living in these countries who rely on Internet-based communication. Any Prolonged connectivity outage combined with the ongoing disruption to the oil supply routes would further compound the economic pressure on these countries.

Although Iran lacks the sophisticated deep-sea capabilities required for complex operations, the geography of Persian gulf significantly lowers the operational challenge. The gulf is relatively shallow with an average depth of around 50 metres, making it vulnerable to unmanned underwater vehicles and sabotage through covert diving missions.

As the gulf crisis deepens, the undersea internet cables are becoming a new strategic vulnerability alongside oil routes and shipping lanes. Even a limited disruption could impact global internet connectivity, highlighting how critical digital infrastructure is increasingly becoming part of modern geopolitical conflict.