Geopolitical Risk

Iran Threatens Hormuz Cables as Four Gulf States Lack Bypass

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Iran Threatens Hormuz Cables as Four Gulf States Lack Bypass

Tehran – October 29, 2026 -- Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have no subsea route to the outside world that avoids the Strait of Hormuz, after an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman said on October 19 that seven major internet cables run beneath the waterway and that new targets and weapons would be unveiled.

Spokesman Hossein Mohebbi told a ceremony in Tehran that the response this time would be much harsher. Earlier in October, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Iran could strike U.S.-linked cables, data centers and AI facilities in a new war. In May, the IRGC said every cable crossing the strait could be placed under Iranian permits.