Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has published a detailed map of undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the infrastructure as potentially vulnerable amid heightened regional tensions in the region.
The report, circulated widely on Telegram, identifies at least seven major submarine communication cables passing through the narrow strait and notes that more than 97 percent of global internet traffic is carried through seabed fiber-optic networks.
It added that the cables connect Persian Gulf states to major data centers across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, forming the backbone for e-commerce, cloud services and financial communications in the region.
According to the report: “simultaneous damage to several major cables — whether through accidents or deliberate action — could trigger severe outages across the Persian Gulf.”
Iran International described the report as a warning, noting that it emphasized how Gulf Arab states on the southern side of the Strait, including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, rely far more heavily on maritime internet routes than Iran does.
“The Tasnim article suggests Iran-linked media are signaling that undersea cables and regional data hubs now sit alongside ports, shipping lanes and energy facilities in the conflict’s widening map of pressure points,” the news outlet notes.
