How realistic is threat of Iran charging to use internet cables under strait of Hormuz?

wcc

May 18, 2026 - 17:32

0 1

How realistic is threat of Iran charging to use internet cables under strait of Hormuz?

Plan floated in Iranian media to extract revenues from US tech firms would rely on intimidation and is legally dubious

Could undersea cables – the sinews of the global internet – become the next frontier in the US-Israel war against Iran?

Last week, two Iranian state-linked media channels, Tasnim and Fars, suggested Iran could leverage its power over the strait of Hormuz, the 25-mile (40km) stretch between Iran and Oman, by charging US tech companies to use the internet cables that traverse the strait. Tasnim implied this could be a lucrative proposition, netting Iran hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Continue reading...