MELBOURNE: Earlier this week, Iranian state media laid out a plan to charge undersea internet cable operators in the Strait of Hormuz for access to what they say is Iran’s offshore territory.
The suggestion came after Iran warned that several vital cables in the strait were vulnerable points for Middle Eastern economies.
Iran’s comments exposed an invisible foundation of the Internet and globalization itself: a network of more than 500 undersea cables that carry more than 95 percent of international data traffic.
We might think of the Internet as existing in a kind of virtual cloud. But its physical foundations are fragile—and that vulnerability is becoming a very real geopolitical issue.
Bays, straits and cables
Several of the world’s most important submarine cable routes pass through the Middle East. Narrow sea lanes through the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandab, Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz also serve as “digital choke points”.
These maritime corridors connect major economic centers in Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2024, a submarine cable incident in the Red Sea disrupted approximately 25% of Internet traffic between Europe and Asia.
Iran has not ignored the strategic importance of undersea cables. Damage to these cables, whether accidental or intentional, can have serious consequences.
Looking at the bigger picture, the message is unmistakable. Digital infrastructure can provide countries with strategic leverage, but it is also a potential target.
digital infrastructure
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In the past, critical infrastructure was oil pipelines, ports or power grids. But data infrastructure is equally important to national and economic security.
The core problem with submarine cables is the concentration of infrastructure. Many cables are bundled together along the same undersea routes and pass through a handful of offshore chokepoints.
This creates a dangerous single point of failure. Cable cuts (whether intentional or accidental) can reduce connectivity in multiple areas at once.
While cable breaks are not uncommon, repairs can be difficult—especially in contested or militarized waters. Repairing ships requires safe access, international coordination and time.
fragmentation and destruction
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A severe submarine cable disruption could have far-reaching consequences. One immediate impact is the fragmentation of global connectivity. The ability we now take for granted to communicate with anyone, anywhere could take a major hit.
Areas that rely heavily on fragile cable lines may experience degraded internet performance, communications outages or financial instability.
Countries lacking backup infrastructure, particularly developing countries in parts of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, will be disproportionately affected.
Financial markets are also fragile. Extremely fast and reliable data flows underpin high-frequency trading systems, global payment networks and international banking transactions.
Even brief disruptions can cause markets to move rapidly, delay trading and leave investors feeling uncertain.
With much of the global economy so interconnected, digital instability in one region could quickly trigger global financial shockwaves.
Insurance markets, the shipping industry and energy supply chains will also face greater uncertainty if cable disruptions coincide with conflicts or instability in major maritime trade routes such as the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal.
Military field
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The military and strategic consequences of a cable outage could be even more serious. The armed forces rely on secure remote communications and real-time coordination.
When you get down to it, everything from command and control systems to drone operations and logistics planning relies on undersea cables. Damage to these networks will reduce force effectiveness, make coordination with allies more difficult, and make miscalculation more likely.
Cable sabotage is not an overtly provocative act like a conventional attack on a military target. It’s difficult to pinpoint who did it – cases such as the Baltic cable break are often blamed on Russian behavior – and the legal situation is murky.
This ambiguity creates the risk of conflict escalation, as states may struggle to determine whether damage was accidental, criminal, or an act of war.
The digital world has a physical basis
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The US-Iran conflict has delayed the construction of new undersea cables. It also highlights a broader reality: the foundations of the digital world are real and concrete, and not invulnerable.
Any deliberate targeting or destruction is not just a local incident. It will have repercussions in global communications, economic and security systems.
The seafloor has become a zone of geopolitical contestation—and the consequences of disruption could affect the world’s stability for years to come. GRS
GRS
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
