Tehran, Iran – In a new escalation that goes beyond traditional military threats, media outlets affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have hinted at targeting international telecommunications infrastructure in the Persian Gulf region.
The Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC’s primary media arm, published a warning report emphasizing the extreme vulnerability of undersea internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz, describing them as a “fatal weakness” for countries in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz: A vital artery for information, not just energy.
The report stated that the classic perception of the Strait of Hormuz as an exclusive oil tanker route has changed, as it now serves as a “highway” for key internet cables connecting the Gulf states to the world.
The agency noted that the majority of the region’s data traffic and digital flows pass through this narrow waterway, making this infrastructure concentrated in a limited geographical area an easy target in times of conflict.
The “digital catastrophe” scenario in developing countries
Tasnim News Agency directly warned that any simultaneous disruption to these cables would lead to what it described as a “digital catastrophe” for the Gulf Arab states.
The report explained that this scenario would result in a complete blackout or widespread disruption to internet networks, crippling the banking, logistics, and international communications sectors upon which these countries rely heavily, causing significant economic losses.
