IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi threatens internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz

Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Monday, 19 October 2026, issued a new threat against global internet infrastructure by pointing to the undersea communications cables in the Strait of Hormuz. He said seven major cables run beneath the Strait of Hormuz, on which the world's internet and commercial data depend, and that the IRGC was reminding the enemy of this so that it would know.

The IRGC has not explicitly spoken of any plan to damage these cables, but its spokesman's remarks continue a chain of threats by Islamic Republic officials against the digital infrastructure of the Persian Gulf states. Earlier, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Islamic Republic's parliament, warned the countries of the region against supporting artificial intelligence and data companies, and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said undersea cables, data centres and AI facilities could come within range of the Islamic Republic's attacks if the war resumed.

Why the Hormuz undersea cables matter

Cables such as Falcon, AAE-1, TGN-Gulf and the SEA-ME-WE systems carry a large share of the Persian Gulf states' internet connections with Asia, Europe and Africa. According to telecommunications analysts, at least two cables, Falcon and Gulf Bridge International, pass through Iranian territorial waters. Simultaneous damage to several cables could cause widespread internet outages and disrupt financial transactions in the region.

IRGC-affiliated media have also repeatedly published lists of these cables in recent months, describing them as a lever of pressure. At the same time, the IRGC has heightened the sense of insecurity for shipping with unconfirmed claims about tankers hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Republic and hostage-taking of global infrastructure

The threat to internet cables comes as the Islamic Republic itself has repeatedly cut or restricted the internet for the people of Iran in recent months. A government that uses its citizens' internet access as a tool of repression is now also holding the region's and the world's communications hostage.

The IRGC spokesman openly turned the internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz into a tool for threatening the world.