Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has indicated that critical digital infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, including undersea internet cables and cloud networks, could become targets amid rising tensions and a fragile ceasefire.
Reports from IRGC-linked media underscore both the strategic importance and vulnerability of the region’s digital backbone, suggesting that systems supporting global connectivity may be drawn into the conflict.
Importance of Hormuz for internet and communication
The Strait of Hormuz serves not only as a vital global oil route but also as a key corridor for submarine communication cables carrying internet and data traffic across continents.
IRGC-linked reports have identified these undersea cables and related cloud infrastructure across countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, effectively marking them as potential pressure points.
Any disruption could lead to widespread internet outages and significantly affect financial systems, businesses and government operations across multiple regions.
A fragile ceasefire
The warning comes even as tensions remain elevated despite a ceasefire between Iran and the United States, with the conflict increasingly extending beyond conventional military targets to include data centres and digital infrastructure.
Undersea cables, which form the backbone of global communications, are particularly exposed due to their passage through narrow maritime chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz.
Even minimal damage to a few key cables could severely disrupt connectivity across the Middle East and beyond, given the region’s heavy reliance on these routes, according to experts.
Ships hit in Hormuz as blockade continues
Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday and seized two of them, escalating its campaign against shipping in the crucial waterway. The attacks came a day after Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while continuing an American blockade of Iranian ports.
The standoff between the United States and Iran has effectively choked off most exports through the strait, a route that handles around 20% of the world’s traded oil in normal times, with no clear resolution in sight. Iranian media said the Revolutionary Guard was taking the two ships to Iran, signalling a further escalation, though the White House maintained that the seizures did not breach ceasefire terms.
The conflict has already driven up gas prices well beyond the region and increased the cost of food and a wide range of other goods. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged past $100 per barrel, marking a 35 per cent rise from pre-conflict levels, even as stock markets appeared largely unfazed.
