Iranian media urges IRGC to cut undersea cables in Strait of Hormuz

Shariatmadari acknowledged that deliberately severing the cables would violate international law but argued that the action would be justified.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hardline Iranian media figures have urged the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to disrupt or sever international undersea internet cables running through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the networks could be targeted to pressure the United States and its allies.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper and a representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader at the publication, described interference with the cables as a “necessary measure.”

“Is it not our indisputable right, in order to bring these sources of evil to their knees and cut off their lifeline, to prevent internet cables from passing through the depths of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz?” Shariatmadari wrote.

“This necessary measure could be carried out by seriously disrupting the cables’ operation or even cutting them,” he added.

Shariatmadari acknowledged that deliberately severing the cables would violate international law but argued that the action would be justified by ongoing conflicts and sanctions.

His comments came one day after Al-Arabiya cited an unnamed US source as saying Tuesday’s strikes on Iran were intended to pre-empt an Iranian plan to target submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz.

IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency has previously portrayed the underwater communications infrastructure as a potential point of leverage. Proposals have included imposing substantial permit fees on technology companies and regional governments as well as physically cutting the cables.

At least seven major commercial submarine cable systems pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Countries along the southern Persian Gulf depend on those connections for more than 90% of their internet, cloud computing, and banking traffic.

Iran is less dependent on the Gulf routes, with most of its own internet traffic traveling overland through Turkey.

Subsea cables carry the vast majority of global internet and financial traffic, connecting Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf. The networks support banking, cloud computing, government communications, and energy markets.

Analysts have warned that cutting cables in the Strait could significantly disrupt regional banking, supply chains and digital communications, although the connections passing specifically through Hormuz represent only a small portion of worldwide intercontinental data traffic.

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