Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, has warned that cables, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities across the region could be attacked if war with the United States erupts again.
uncertain
war → warn → States
The warning comes as the capture of Yemeni territory along the Red Sea coastline last month by the Iran-backed Houthis has raised concerns over the safety of internet cables linking Europe and Asia.
asserted
capture → come → Europe
Fierce fighting is under way between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis at several locations, including Bab al-Mandeb, through which nearly one-fifth of global internet traffic passes.
asserted
fifth → recognise → traffic
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4US suspends Microsoft and Adobe from visa programme amid fraud claims
- list 2 of 4Trump gives top US science awards to Elon Musk and other tech executives
- list 3 of 4Why has Iraq decided to ban online map service Waze?
- list 4 of 4Russia’s Yandex says data centre shut down after drone attack
Data centres and US business interests were hit in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates during the US-Israel war on Iran.
uncertain
centres → suspend → Iran
Tehran said these attacks were in response to US attacks on Iranian civilian installations.
asserted
attacks → say → installations
Active hostilities have largely ended since the June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US, but attacks on ships passing through the global oil chokepoint – the Strait of Hormuz – have continued.
asserted
attacks → end → Hormuz
Here’s what you need to know:
asserted
you → ’ → what
Why are data centres and internet cables vulnerable?
Because so much data travels through a few narrow routes.
asserted
data → travel → routes
More than 90 percent of data capacity between Europe and Asia passes through cables under the Red Sea, according to estimates by the research firm TeleGeography.
uncertain
percent → pass → firm
They enter the sea through Bab al-Mandeb, a strait about 26km (16 miles) wide at its narrowest, one of the busiest maritime routes connecting Europe to Asia.
asserted
They → enter → Asia
Cables can be cut by anchors or sabotage, and repairs in a war zone need permits and safety guarantees.
asserted
repairs → cut → permits
Data centres, which run banking apps and cloud services, are large, fixed targets.
asserted
which → run → services
“An attack does not necessarily need to destroy the servers themselves to render an entire facility inoperable,” Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer in security studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Krieg → need → Jazeera
Data centres depend on uninterrupted electricity, cooling and telecommunications, he said, while undersea cables “are difficult to protect continuously and disruption can affect several countries simultaneously”.
asserted
disruption → depend → countries
Has Iran threatened to attack data centres and cables?
Yes, repeatedly since the war began in February.
asserted
war → threaten → February
On March 11, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has published a list of “Iran’s new targets”, including cloud infrastructure belonging to Google, Microsoft and Oracle in Israel and some Gulf states.
asserted
Corps → say → Israel
That same month, the IRGC named 17 US firms in a Telegram post, including Google, Meta, and Apple, as well as the Emirati AI company G42 as potential targets.
asserted
IRGC → name → targets
Krieg said he would take Rezaei’s threat seriously, but drew a distinction between Iran’s ability to cause significant disruption and its ability “to systematically destroy the Gulf’s digital infrastructure”.
asserted
he → say → infrastructure
“What makes Mohsen Rezaei’s warning particularly significant is that he is not simply threatening another set of targets,” he said.
asserted
he → make → targets
“He is identifying a new category of strategic infrastructure that connects Gulf economic diversification directly to American technological power.”
asserted
that → identify → power
He described the warning as “fundamentally about deterrence”, aimed “as much at Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha as at Washington”, giving Gulf governments a reason to discourage another US offensive.
asserted
He → describe → offensive
Have tech infrastructure and cables been attacked before?
asserted
infrastructure → attack → ?
In March, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said two of its facilities in the UAE were “directly struck” by drones, while a strike near one in Bahrain “caused physical impact to our infrastructure”.
asserted
strike → say → infrastructure
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said its app was unavailable due to a region-wide IT disruption, though it did not directly link this to AWS.
asserted
it → say → AWS
In September, AWS said it could not restore several sites in Bahrain and one in the UAE.
uncertain
it → say → UAE
Under the sea, three cables were damaged in February 2024, most likely by the dragging anchor of the Rubymar, a cargo ship disabled by a Houthi missile, according to the industry consensus reported by Data Center Dynamics, with repairs taking months.
uncertain
repairs → damage → months
In September 2025, two cables were cut near Jeddah, slowing internet access across the Middle East and South Asia.
asserted
cables → cut → East
No cause has been confirmed.
asserted
cause → confirm → ?
The March attacks “exposed the limits of treating commercial infrastructure as something that automatically benefits from national air defence”, Krieg said.
asserted
Krieg → expose → defence
“Gulf militaries can intercept most incoming threats, but even a small number of successful strikes can produce disproportionate economic consequences,” he said, adding that relatively cheap drones can threaten facilities holding billions of dollars’ worth of equipment.
Have the Houthis attacked undersea cables?
Not directly, as far as is known, and the group has denied causing the 2024 damage.
asserted
group → intercept → damage
But in mid-September, the Houthis seized the port of Mocha and territory around Bab al-Mandeb.
asserted
Houthis → seize → Mandeb
On September 11, they reached Mayyun Island, which splits the strait in two.
asserted
which → reach → two
On October 5, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it had retaken Mocha and positions near the strait.
asserted
it → recognise → strait
The Houthis denied it.
asserted
Houthis → deny → it
Some, but they cost more and are still being built.
asserted
they → cost → more
On September 10, Iraq signed a contract with Qatar’s Ooredoo to carry data from the Gulf to Europe across its territory, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement.
asserted
Ministry → sign → statement
Minister Mustafa Jabar Sanad told the Iraqi News Agency the underground cable runs from al-Faw to Rabia near Turkiye’s border.
asserted
cable → tell → border
On October 7, Ooredoo’s international arm agreed to buy fibre from Iraq’s iQ Networks to extend the route towards Turkiye, subject to government approval.
asserted
arm → agree → approval
Microsoft said in September it would invest more than $400m in subsea and land connectivity across the Middle East by 2030, in a blog post.
asserted
it → say → post
The technology news site Rest of World reported on October 7, citing an unnamed source, that Google and Meta had begun sending some traffic through Iraq.
asserted
Google → report → Iraq
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
