Iran's Push for Fees on the World's Internet Cables Turns the Strait of Hormuz Into a 20% Global Traffic Weapon

ibtimes.co.uk

a day ago

Iran targets digital infrastructure for revenue and leverage in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran says it will start charging fees on the undersea internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz, taking aim at a vital digital bottleneck that carries roughly 20% of the world's data and financial traffic.

Media outlets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have urged the government to generate revenue from these submarine fibre-optic networks. The coordinated messaging frames the waterway not just as a traditional shipping and energy corridor, but as a digital pressure point that Tehran can leverage against foreign tech companies.

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iran-fees-undersea-internet-cables-1795967

So how much international digital traffic flows through a watery cul-de-sac?

9 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

So how much international digital traffic flows through a watery cul-de-sac?

17-30% of global traffic according to my buddy known as AI

^ Is there a map of said cables? 17% a drop in the Gulf? Mostly traffic from Arabia? To Where.

Most of the maps I have looked at show the Gulf as a cable cul-de-sac. I doubt my internet will slow down as a result of anything Iran does.

The 2025 map of undersea cables is a good resource. It shows that, although there are indeed many cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz, they are branch ones, servicing the Gulf countries, with the mother cables continuing on from the Red Sea to India, outside Iran's zone of influence.

The site has a number of downloadable maps covering each region, plus a global one...

https://submarine-cable-map-2025.telegeography.com/

Edited May 11May 11 by ballpoint