When people talk about the ongoing Iran war, images of oil tankers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz or dramatic scenes of missile strikes often come first to mind. Indeed, the conflict has already triggered one of the most serious disruptions to global energy supplies in decades — and the economic shockwaves are being felt from Asia to Europe.
But there’s another, less visible threat emerging from this geopolitical crisis: the potential disruption of the global internet itself.
Why the Internet Is at Risk
Most of the world’s digital communications — everything from video calls and financial transactions to business servers and cloud services — relies on submarine fiber‑optic cables that span thousands of miles across the world’s oceans. These cables carry more than 95% of international internet traffic.
Many of the most critical of these undersea cables run through or near regions of heightened military tension, especially:
- The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman;
- Routes through the Red Sea and Bab el‑Mandeb Strait.
These chokepoints not only funnel oil and gas but also serve as conduits for high‑capacity internet lines that link Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
It’s one thing to disrupt shipping; it’s an entirely different — and potentially more devastating — thing to disrupt digital networks that support governments, businesses, and everyday lives across the globe.
How Conflict Can Threaten Digital Infrastructure
There are several vectors through which war can affect internet connectivity:
- Physical Damage to Undersea Cables
- – Missile strikes, naval mines, or covert sabotage can sever or damage fiber lines that lie on the seabed, especially near conflict zones like the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea.
- – Repairing these cables is neither easy nor fast — it requires specialized ships and calm security conditions.
- Collateral Risks from Naval Warfare
- – Military engagements, patrols, and restricted waterways increase the risk of accidental damage to cable infrastructure.
- – Regions around Hormuz and the Red Sea have already become war zones, with trade and shipping drastically reduced.
- State‑Level Censorship and Blackouts
- – Past conflicts have shown how governments may shut down or throttle internet access for security reasons, as seen in earlier conflicts when Iran imposed wide internet blackouts.
- – In wartime, digital infrastructure often becomes a tool of political control as much as a casualty of violence.
- Cyberwarfare
- – As kinetic battles rage, parallel cyber operations — including attacks on routers, data centers, and state communication networks — are already playing a role in the Iran war.
- – Such operations can degrade network performance far beyond the battlefield.
What Could Happen If the Internet Is Disrupted
A significant break in submarine cable infrastructure would have cascading effects:
- Widespread outages or slowdowns for millions of internet users across multiple countries.
- Financial market instability, as trading platforms and banking systems struggle with limited connectivity.
- Supply chain chaos, since logistics and communication systems depend on reliable international data links.
- Economic losses for businesses that rely on cloud services, video conferencing, and real‑time data.
In short, while a targeted missile strike on an oil tanker disrupts energy markets, a severed internet cable could bring digital economies to a grinding halt.
A War Beyond the Visible Battlefields
The Iran war is widely discussed in terms of closing shipping lanes, rising oil prices, and geopolitical alliances. What gets less attention is how modern warfare doesn’t just happen in the skies or open seas — it also unfolds in networks, servers, and undersea cables that bind the world together.
As tensions persist and strategic chokepoints remain contested, the risk that global digital infrastructure becomes a casualty of this conflict grows — not just for the region but for the entire connected world. And if that happens, the ripple effects could be far deeper, and far more far‑reaching, than the loss of any single tanker.