Iran threatens Hormuz internet cables, which carry under 1% of world bandwidth

Yadollah Javani, the political deputy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned on Wednesday that undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz could be targeted if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.

The strait is a chokepoint for the world's oil and gas, but it matters far less for internet traffic. Five active submarine cable segments pass through it, carrying less than 1% of the world's international bandwidth, according to the International Cable Protection Committee.

Who would feel it

The main systems on the route are Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1), FALCON and Gulf Bridge International, according to telecoms research firm TeleGeography, which says the cables have been laid through Omani waters rather than Iranian ones.

They mainly serve the Gulf. Damage could disrupt international links for Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, although all four also have connections over land. Saudi Arabia carries most of its international traffic through cables landing on its Red Sea coast.

The busiest data routes between Europe and East Asia run through the Red Sea, not the Strait of Hormuz.

Cuts slow traffic but rarely switch it off

Telecoms operators spread traffic over several submarine and land routes and can reroute it when one link fails. That can slow speeds and raise latency, but it does not usually cut users off entirely.

Past incidents show the pattern. In February 2024, three cables in the Red Sea were damaged, most likely by the dragging anchor of the Rubymar, a cargo ship hit by Houthi missiles, and repairs took about six months, according to TeleGeography. In March 2024, damage to four cables off West Africa disrupted services in 13 countries while operators rerouted traffic, the Internet Society said.

Security risks in the Gulf could delay repairs by keeping specialised cable ships away, but alternative routes would limit how long any outage lasts.

What the law says

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea protects the laying and maintenance of submarine cables under Article 79, and Article 113 requires states to make wilful or negligent damage to cables beneath the high seas a punishable offence. In armed conflict, civilian communications infrastructure is generally protected from direct attack, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.