Can Iran shut down global internet by cutting Hormuz undersea cables?
India Today
The world is facing an energy crisis as Iran blocked supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz after strikes by the US and Israel. Vital subsea cables that carry global internet traffic also pass through Hormuz. Any damage to them could trigger internet outages and hit financial systems across countries, including in India.
Amid the US and Israel's war against Iran, which has entered its third week with no end in sight, a new concern has come up. Iran has already blocked the Strait of Hormuz, choking energy supplies to the world. Vital undersea internet cables pass through the Hormuz. Will Tehran cut the internet next as the war enters a second stage where oil installations are being targeted?
While the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, there are fears that Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea could also be hit by Iran's proxy Houthis. The world's digital arteries also pass through these routes in the form of subsea cables.
Iran has placed sea mines across the Strait of Hormuz, which has scared shipping lines and insurance companies into halting all traffic until safe routes are cleared. Meanwhile, in the Red Sea, Houthi groups from Yemen are firing at passing vessels, turning that narrow waterway into a danger zone too.
These two choke points sit right on top of a huge web of fibre-optic cables laid on the ocean floor. These thin lines stretch for thousands of kilometres and carry nearly all the data that powers the global internet — from video calls and e-mails to banking transfers and AI services.
Seventeen submarine cables run through the Red Sea, reported Capacity Global, a global telecom, data centre, and digital infrastructure industry news website. These cables carry the main share of internet traffic linking Europe, Asia and Africa.
The cables crossing the Strait of Hormuz matter just as much. The active subsea cables in the Persian Gulf are AAE-1, FALCON, Gulf Bridge International Cable System and Tata-TGN Gulf, reported TeleGeography, a leading source for cable data. These lines directly support India's overseas data connections. A diagram illustrating how Google's network of subsea cables connect the world. (Image: File)
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