Iran Threatens Undersea Cables in the Strait of Hormuz

Cryptocurrency bettors remain doubtful that Iran will damage undersea cables to disrupt critical digital infrastructure, despite a renewed threat from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). On Polygon-based Polymarket, traders put the chance of Iran or its proxy groups physically damaging undersea cable infrastructure by month-end at 4%. The groups named include Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. The probability of an attack by year’s end was 12%.

The odds shifted after IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi threatened to target undersea communication cables in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. He said that “all of the world’s internet and commercial data depend on them.” Al Jazeera also reported that Mohebi warned the US against renewed attacks and threatened to target internet cables passing through the strait. On October 19, 2026, Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned that renewed intense fighting could put critical technology infrastructure at risk, including cables, data centers and AI facilities. The comments followed Mohebi’s remarks.

Drone attacks in early March damaged Amazon Web Services infrastructure in the UAE and Bahrain, causing physical damage, power disruptions and cloud-service outages. More than 90% of data capacity between Europe and Asia travels through subsea fiber-optic cables beneath the Red Sea, according to telecom data analytics firm TeleGeography. Iran-backed Houthis control key coastal areas and shipping lanes at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea’s southern entrance, giving Tehran another pressure point.