Iran's Gulf cable threat: What's at stake for regional internet

Iran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea cables beneath the Gulf if the US and Israel attack again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters on Friday, threatening to disrupt regional internet access for weeks by also blocking repairs. The cables crossing the Strait of Hormuz carry less than 1% of global international bandwidth, so a single cut would barely affect the world's internet, but multiple breaks could slow regional web access, online payments, and cloud services. Operators can reroute traffic around one break, but several at once would be harder to absorb, and repairs depend on a small fleet of ships and wartime permits. Undersea cables carry about 99% of international internet traffic, with most faults caused by accidents like fishing gear and anchors. International law, dating to an 1884 treaty, protects cables but does not restrict the freedom of action of belligerents, and Britain's first act in 1914 was cutting Germany's cables.