Iran's IRGC linked Tasnim says Tehran could make Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon get permits, accept inspections and pay fees for undersea cables in its Hormuz waters
BREAKING: Iran is moving to force Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon to obtain passage permits, undergo technical inspections and pay sovereignty fees for the undersea internet cables running through its territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz, per Tasnim. At least two major cable systems, FALCON and Gulf Bridge International, run directly through Iranian territorial waters in the Strait. Iran says their physical placement on Iran's seabed creates a legal basis to apply its own regulations, requiring the owning companies to meet environmental and seabed monitoring standards and to pay for Iranian supervisory services. More than 99% of international data traffic travels through undersea cables. The move comes as Iran said yesterday that if the war restarts, the region's undersea cables, data centers and AI facilities "will be destroyed," putting their total value at more than $2 trillion.
Context
Undersea cables through the Strait of Hormuz carry cloud and AI traffic between the Gulf, Asia and Europe, so any Iranian move to control them adds risk for the region's AI buildout.
The Hormuz Letter is an aggregator account relaying a report by Tasnim, a news agency linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The idea is not new: Tasnim and Fars floated cable permits and fees in May, and TIME then reported Iran had adopted no official policy or law on it. This follows the October 11 deck's story 23 on Mohsen Rezaei's threat against Gulf cables, data centers and AI facilities.
Deep dive
On October 12, The Hormuz Letter posted that Iran is moving to force Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon to obtain passage permits, undergo technical inspections and pay sovereignty fees for undersea internet cables running through its territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz, per Tasnim.
Tamrah News, summarizing the Tasnim report, described it as a proposal that Tehran could require such licenses, inspections and fees, rather than a decision. It said the idea builds on Tasnim and Fars articles from May and that no later confirmation of an official policy was found. No company response to the latest report was found.
The post says at least two cable systems, FALCON and Gulf Bridge International, run through Iranian waters. Tamrah News, citing Marine Insight, reported the same, adding that most cables run closer to Oman, and TIME quoted experts saying operators routed most cables through Omani waters on purpose.
RFE/RL reported in May that experts see the proposals as more threat than workable plan, noting that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea protects the right to lay and maintain cables and that Iran signed it but never ratified it. Tech Times reported that US sanctions bar American companies from paying Iranian state entities.
What to expect next
Watch whether Iran's government or parliament turns the Tasnim proposal into actual law or regulation, which did not happen after the May reports.
Also watch for responses from Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, from the operators of FALCON and Gulf Bridge International, and from Oman and the UAE, and whether the threat is folded into talks over reopening the Strait.