IRGC-linked media called for Iran to generate revenue from undersea internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz, framing the waterway not only as an energy and shipping chokepoint but also as a digital pressure point.
Tasnim, in an article titled “Three practical steps for generating revenue from Strait of Hormuz internet cables,” wrote that submarine fiber-optic cables passing through the strait carry more than $10 trillion in financial transactions each day, but said Iran has been deprived of the economic and sovereign benefits of this critical communications infrastructure because of what it called a traditional view of the strait.
The outlet said the Islamic Republic should take three steps: charge foreign companies initial licensing and annual renewal fees; require major technology companies such as Meta, Amazon and Microsoft to operate under Iranian law; and give Iranian companies exclusive control over maintenance and repair of the cables.
Tasnim said the measures would turn the Strait of Hormuz into a “strategic center for legitimate wealth creation.”
Fars, another IRGC-linked outlet, published a similar thread on X, describing Iran as the ruler of a “hidden highway” in Hormuz.
It said more than 99% of international internet communications are carried through undersea cables, describing them as the backbone of global technology giants including Google, Meta and Microsoft.
Fars said disruption to the cables for only a few days could cause tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the regional and global economy.
It said an important part of this communications route passes through the Strait of Hormuz and claimed the cables are legally within an area where Iran can exercise sovereignty, adding that the right of transit passage does not remove that authority.
Under its proposed model for governing the strait, Fars said the passage of undersea cables should require permits and toll payments, while foreign companies should operate under Iranian rules. It also said management, repair and maintenance of the cables could be assigned exclusively to Iranian companies, turning Hormuz into one of Iran’s “digital power” levers.
The comments follow an earlier Tasnim report in April that mapped undersea internet cables and cloud infrastructure around the Persian Gulf, including routes serving the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
That report argued that countries on the southern side of the Persian Gulf depend more heavily than Iran on maritime internet routes, and highlighted landing stations, data hubs and cloud infrastructure as strategic pressure points in the conflict.
