🌏📈 Cables in the crosshairs: Iran, Yemen could amputate internet’s East-West bridge
 
Iranian Supreme National Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that if the US resumed its aggression, Iranian counterstrikes may target $2T+ in US Big Tech assets in the region, including underwater internet cables, data centers and AI infrastructure.

At least half-a-dozen key underwater cables run along the bottom of the Hormuz Strait, including:

🌏 Asia-Africa-Europe 1: massive, 25k km transcontinental network

🌏 South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5: international network stretching from France to Singapore

🌏 FALCON, Gulf Bridge International, Tata TGN-Gulf, and Persian Gulf Optical Internet: links connecting the Gulf to India, Africa, one another, Europe and Asia

Gulf and Hormuz waters’ average depth is ~50-100M, and Iran has a broad array of tools it could use to target the easily spottable cable infrastructure, from remotely operated underwater vehicles and IRGC divers to specially-rigged seabed mines, or even by dragging ship anchors.

If Iran’s Ansar Allah allies joined the fight, damage would expand exponentially, affecting up to 90% of all data transfer capacity between Europe and Asia, and ~15% of global internet traffic, hitting the 2Africa, SEA-ME-WE 4 and 5, Europe India Gateway, and TGN-Eurasia networks.

Bab al-Mandab has an average depth of ~100-185M, and Houthis don’t have the same sophisticated naval tech, but could adopt locally-made or Iranian-designed UUVs, weighted bottom sea mines, or the same, simple anchor dragging technique.

➡️Once decommissioned, restoring the infrastructure could prove difficult, since both Iran and Yemen’s fighters can simply deny repair ships’ entry into the region so long as the broader conflict continues.

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