Networks
Threatens unspecified ‘fees’ and warns of economic consequences – yet only major kinetic action could stop data flows entirely
Iran appears to have again threatened to disrupt submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz.An X account that uses the handle Ibrahim_alFiqar and claims to represent senior Iranian military command last week posted a missive that translates as “We will impose fees on internet cables.”That’s presumably a threat to charge operators of submarine cables a fee to avoid some kind of disruption.
Builders of submarine cables typically try to route their cables through deep water, to make them harder to reach. Iran, however, operates a fleet of torpedo-capable submarines and the Strait is famously shallow.
Another X account that claims to represent a media outlet called Iran Times, and which uses the image of the same military spokesperson, yesterday warned “There are fears that Iran could use the global internet’s submarine communication cables as a new pressure tactic following the Strait of Hormuz blockade” and pointed out that if anything happened to cables in the Strait it “could affect banking networks, military communications, AI cloud systems, online services, and global commerce.”
