Iranian hardliners urge regime to cut undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian hardliners are pressing the regime to target the undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, presenting disruption of the lines as a way to strike at the United States and its allies.

Hossein Shariatmadari, managing editor of the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper, called cutting or seriously disrupting the cables a “necessary measure” in response to what he described as the “crimes of America and its wicked allies.” He wrote: “Is it not our indisputable right, in order to bring these sources of evil to their knees and cut off their lifeline, to prevent internet cables from passing through the depths of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz?”

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This necessary measure could be carried out by seriously disrupting the cables’ operation or even cutting them.

Shariatmadari acknowledged that such an operation would violate international law and add to the list of countries harmed by Iranian actions despite not taking part directly in the war. He nevertheless argued that countries that had failed to rise against the United States could not object to the move.

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Is it not our indisputable right, in order to bring these sources of evil to their knees and cut off their lifeline, to prevent internet cables from passing through the depths of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz?

The newspaper editor is not alone in advocating action against the cables. IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency has repeatedly called on Iran to exploit them and proposed charging countries fees for their use, echoing a strategy Iran has tried to employ in the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the IRGC had developed plans for further escalation, including possible cable sabotage.

Military historian Lynette Nusbacher, a former British Army intelligence officer, told The Jerusalem Post that the cables are vital to the global economy, particularly China’s. She said Iran had not needed to play that card because it had used the Strait of Hormuz as pressure on the global economy. American officials have said new regional pipelines could reduce the strait’s strategic importance, while the Institute for the Study of War said American attacks had significantly weakened Iran’s ability to control it.

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The cables are vital to the global economy, especially China’s.