Iran's state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has published a detailed map of undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, framing the waterway's fiber-optic infrastructure as acutely vulnerable, in what analysts and regional observers say reads less like. Iran's state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has published a detailed map of undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, framing the waterway's fiber-optic infrastructure as acutely vulnerable, in what analysts and regional observers say reads less like. Subsea cables are fibre-optic or electrical cables laid on the sea floor to transmit data and power. They carry around 99% of the world's internet traffic, according to the ITU, the United Nations specialised agency for digital technologies. US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V Touska on April 20, 2026, after firing upon the Iranian-flagged vessel that the US accused of. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked media outlet has signaled that submarine fiber-optic cables running through the Strait of Hormuz remain in Tehran's crosshairs. Tehran views Hormuz not only as an energy chokepoint but also as a digital chokepoint, with undersea cables beaming internet. The Strait of Hormuz is traditionally viewed through the lens of petroleum throughput, yet a more critical, invisible vulnerability exists beneath the surface: the concentration of fiber-optic subsea cables that facilitate the digital connectivity of the Persian Gulf and broader Eurasia. Iran has insisted for weeks that it has the right to charge international ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route off the coast of the Islamic. A ship waits to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following the two-week temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran, which is conditional on the opening of the strait, in Oman on April 8, 2026. (AA Photo) Iran's state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has published a detailed map of undersea internet.
