Iran war threatens submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is critical to the digital world, as several fiber-optic cables run along its seabed, linking countries from India and Southeast Asia to Europe through the Gulf states and Egypt.
Iran warned last week that submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz represent a point of vulnerability for the region’s digital economy, raising concerns that this vital infrastructure could be exposed to attacks.
This narrow waterway, already considered a choke point for global oil shipments, is equally important for the digital world, as multiple fiber-optic cables pass along its seabed, connecting countries from India and Southeast Asia to Europe via the Gulf states and Egypt.
Submarine cables are fiber-optic or electrical cables laid on the seabed to transmit data and power. The International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations specialized agency for digital technologies, states that submarine cables carry around 99 percent of global internet data traffic.
They also transmit communications and electricity between countries and are essential for cloud services and online communications.
Masha Kotkin, a geopolitical and energy affairs analyst, said: “Damaging the cables means slower or disrupted internet, interference with e-commerce, delays in financial transactions… and all the economic consequences that result from these disruptions.”
Gulf countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have invested billions of dollars in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure to diversify their economies away from oil. Both countries have established national AI companies serving clients across the region, all of which rely on submarine cables for rapid data transfer.
Major cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz include the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) cable, which links Southeast Asia to Europe via Egypt with landing points in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia; the Falcon network linking India and Sri Lanka to Gulf countries, Sudan, and Egypt; and the Gulf Bridge International cable system connecting all Gulf countries, including Iran.
Additional networks are currently under construction, including a system led by the Qatari company Ooredoo.
The International Cable Protection Committee reports that the number of faults has remained stable at between 150 and 200 per year, despite the significant growth in the total length of submarine cables between 2014 and 2025.
The committee and experts note that state-sponsored sabotage remains a risk, but 70 to 80 percent of faults result from accidental human activities, mainly fishing and ship anchors.
Alan Mauldin, research director at TeleGeography, a telecommunications research firm, noted other risks such as ocean currents, earthquakes, underwater volcanoes, and hurricanes.
He added that the industry addresses these risks by burying cables, armoring them, and selecting safe routes.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, which began about two months ago, has caused unprecedented disruptions to global energy supplies and regional infrastructure, including damage to Amazon Web Services data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Submarine cables have so far remained intact.
However, an indirect risk remains: anchors from damaged ships may accidentally strike cables while being towed.
Kotkin said: “In active military operations, the risk of unintended damage increases, and the longer this conflict lasts, the greater the likelihood of accidental damage.”
A similar incident occurred in 2024 when a commercial vessel attacked by Iran-allied Houthis in the Red Sea drifted and cut cables with its anchor.
TeleGeography stated that the extent of the impact of cable damage on communications in Gulf countries largely depends on how dependent network operators are on these cables and what alternatives are available to them.
Repairing damaged cables in conflict zones presents another challenge beyond protecting them. Experts say the physical repair itself is not very complex, but decisions by repair ship owners and insurance companies may be influenced by risks from fighting or the presence of mines.
Obtaining permits to enter territorial waters poses another difficulty. Mauldin said: “One of the biggest obstacles to repairs is often the need to obtain permits to enter the waters where the damage occurred. This can sometimes take a long time and can be the main source of problems.”
He added that once the conflict ends, industry workers will also face the challenge of re-surveying the seabed to identify safe locations for cables and avoid ships or objects that may have sunk during military operations.
Although potential damage to submarine cables would not cause a total communications blackout thanks to land connections, experts agree that satellite systems are not a practical alternative because they cannot handle the same volume of data traffic and are more expensive.
Mauldin explained: “It’s not as if you can simply switch to satellites. That’s not an alternative,” noting that satellites depend on connections to terrestrial networks and are better suited to moving assets such as aircraft and ships.
Kotkin said that low Earth orbit networks such as Starlink are “a limited solution that currently cannot be scaled to serve millions of users.”
