Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that undersea fiber-optic cables running through the Strait of Hormuz could become targets in a future conflict. A spokesman said seven large cables pass beneath the strait and carry the bulk of internet and commercial data. Another IRGC political deputy added that Iran would strike the cables if its own infrastructure were attacked.
The threat appears to point to the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 cable, a 15,050-mile link that passes through Oman, the UAE and Qatar. Security experts say the scenario is credible; one King's College London professor noted that divers could reach the seabed and cut cables, and that such sabotage is not unprecedented, citing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline incident.
Iran has so far held off on cutting the cables, according to an unnamed Iranian spokesman, because doing so would mean making enemies of the entire world. But the option remains on the table if the US escalates. The report also notes that a Russian ship loitered near undersea cables off British waters earlier this year, highlighting broader worries about the security of global data infrastructure.