What Lies Beneath the Strait of Hormuz? Iran's Seven-Cable Reminder to Its Adversaries
https://wanaen.com/what-lies-beneath-the-strait-of-hormuz-irans-seven-cable-reminder-to-its-adversaries/
Seven undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz form part of the world's communications infrastructure, carrying internet, financial and commercial data between countries and playing a vital role in maintaining global digital connectivity.
The spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), referring to seven major cables that pass beneath the Strait of Hormuz, highlighted the world's dependence on these links for internet and commercial data.
He said the point was being reiterated to make Iran's adversaries aware of this dependence. His remarks have once again drawn attention away from the surface of the strait, where oil tankers and naval vessels operate, to the seabed, which hosts less visible but critical infrastructure.
What are undersea cables?
Undersea cables are essentially extremely thin strands of optical fiber that transmit data in the form of light. Because these glass fibers are fragile, they are surrounded by several protective layers, including plastic coatings to prevent physical damage and reinforced metal layers designed to withstand water pressure and tension.
Specialized cable-laying ships deploy these cables along predetermined routes. In shallow waters, cables are often buried beneath the seabed to protect them from damage caused by ship anchors, while in the deep ocean, they are generally laid directly on the seabed.
More than 90 percent of international internet communications travel through these cables. Satellites are not a suitable replacement because they offer lower capacity, higher latency and greater costs. Messaging, video calls, online banking, cloud services and a large share of technology companies' operations all rely on this infrastructure.
Why is the Strait of Hormuz important for internet connectivity?
Because of its geographical position, the Strait of Hormuz is an important gateway connecting Persian Gulf countries to the global internet network. Several undersea cable systems pass through the strait and its surrounding waters, linking Persian Gulf countries to international routes extending toward India, East Asia, Africa and Europe.
Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia rely on a combination of undersea cables and terrestrial routes for their international communications. In this network, the Strait of Hormuz is more than a maritime passage; it is part of the physical infrastructure connecting the region's digital communications to the rest of the world.
According to mapping and analytical data from sources such as TeleGeography and Submarine Networks, between five and seven major undersea cable systems pass through the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters. The area is considered an important communications hub in the Middle East.
Some of the major cable systems in the region include:
- FALCON: An extensive network connecting Persian Gulf countries to one another and to international routes.
- AAE-1: An intercontinental cable linking Asia, Africa and Europe.
- Gulf Bridge International (GBI): An important regional cable connecting Persian Gulf countries.
- TGN-Gulf: A communications route linking the Persian Gulf and India, primarily serving enterprise and commercial traffic.
- SEA-ME-WE 5: One of the major intercontinental cable systems connecting eastern and western markets through the Middle East.
- 2Africa: A major project designed to expand internet capacity across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
- Oman–Iran Link: A direct connection between Iran and Oman that supports part of Iran's regional connectivity.
What kind of data travels through these cables?
The data passing through the Strait of Hormuz is not limited to everyday internet traffic. The infrastructure also carries valuable financial and commercial information, including financial transactions, stock market
trades and financial messaging services such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Much of the region's commercial activity also depends on digital networks.
Some estimates place the value of transactions and data carried through this infrastructure at tens of trillions of dollars.
How are major technology companies connected to the cables in Hormuz?
Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta use undersea cables to connect their local network nodes to the global network infrastructure. Their traffic includes real-time synchronization of distributed databases, virtual machine transfers, internal API traffic and user-generated content, including videos and messages shared through Instagram and WhatsApp.
In recent years, these companies have invested billions of dollars in data centers and cloud services across the Middle East. They depend on regional communication routes to maintain network latency at the millisecond level.
A disruption or widespread outage affecting these cables could interfere with synchronization between data centers in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. It could also affect cloud computing services, including Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.
Countries along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf rely heavily on undersea cables for international connectivity, while alternative terrestrial routes have limited capacity. Simultaneous disruptions to several major cables could therefore have far-reaching consequences for neighboring countries, ranging from interruptions to financial transactions and regional stock markets to reduced connectivity and increased pressure on alternative routes.
How difficult is it to repair undersea cables?
Repairing undersea cables is a complex and time-consuming process. A repair vessel must retrieve the cable from the seabed using a grappling hook, cut out the damaged section, install a replacement, carefully splice and seal the optical fibers, and then lower the cable back onto the seabed.
The process can take several weeks, and repair vessels may need to remain in one location for days at a time.
Reports indicate that cable-laying vessels have left the region and that several multibillion-dollar projects, including 2Africa Pearls, SEA-ME-WE 6 and WorldLink, have been halted or suspended.
According to Alan Mauldin, research director at TeleGeography, only one of the five repair vessels that typically operate in the region is currently remaining in the Persian Gulf.
Ultimately, the importance of the undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz extends far beyond everyday internet access. These cables are part of the infrastructure connecting the region's financial, commercial and technological systems to the global network. Any disruption could have consequences extending well beyond the Persian Gulf.