Iran's security chief threatens undersea cables, data centers and AI facilities around the Strait of Hormuz if war resumes, in a Press TV interview relayed by an aggregator
BREAKING: Iran threatens to destroy the undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz along with data centers and artificial intelligence facilities across the entire region if the war restarts. "We have not yet included these assets among our targets," but "many of these cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and numerous other sites will be destroyed" as soon as the war restarts, Iran's SNSC chief Rezaei says. Rezaei says "the pulse of the American economy in this region runs through our part of the world" and puts the total value of the region's cables, data centers and AI facilities at more than $2 trillion.
Context
The Gulf is becoming a major hub for AI data centers and the subsea cables that connect them, so a threat aimed at that infrastructure puts AI buildouts in the region in a new risk category.
The Hormuz Letter is an aggregator account; the remarks come from an interview Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a former IRGC commander, gave to Iran's state owned Press TV. Press TV published the interview on October 11 and 12. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again after accusing the US of violating a June memorandum of understanding, according to Press TV.
Deep dive
On October 11, The Hormuz Letter posted that Iran threatens to destroy the undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, along with data centers and AI facilities across the region, if the war restarts. The account is an aggregator, and the quotes trace back to Press TV.
According to Press TV, Rezaei said that if Washington launched another act of aggression, American assets could be targeted, including key data systems and artificial intelligence sensors. He said: We have not yet included these assets among our targets. But if war breaks out, many of these cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and numerous other sites will be destroyed. He called the region the place where the pulse of the American economy runs, and put the value of US linked technology infrastructure there at more than $2 trillion.
Roya News reported that he named assets in the UAE and around the Strait of Hormuz, and noted that his statements do not establish that specific facilities have been selected for attack. TokenPost reported that he did not identify any facility or cable, and that he called the latest US response to Iran's conditions for ending the war insufficient.
The $2 trillion figure is Rezaei's claim, with no inventory or method given.
What to expect next
Watch whether talks between Iran and the US over its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz make progress, which would lower the risk behind this threat.
Also watch for responses from the UAE and from companies building AI data centers in the Gulf, any visible steps to harden cable landing sites and facilities, and whether insurers or investors start pricing this risk into regional AI projects.