Mohsen Rezaei's threat should be taken seriously; Iran threatens data centers in the Persian Gulf

Iran has warned that cables and data centers in the region may be targeted; Meanwhile, Yemen's Ansarullah are also present near one of the critical bottlenecks of the Internet.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan's international reporter, Qatar's Al Jazeera has analyzed Iran's threat against the internet infrastructure and data centers in the region in a report that follows.

Iran's security official Mohsen Rezaei has warned that communication cables, data centers and artificial intelligence facilities across the region could be targeted if war with the United States resumes.

This warning has been raised in a situation where the capture of parts of Yemen's territory along the Red Sea coast by Iran-backed Houthis last month has raised concerns about the security of internet cables connecting Europe and Asia.

In several areas, including the Bab al-Mandab strait, through which nearly one-fifth of the world's Internet traffic passes, there is intense fighting between Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Houthis.

During the American-Israeli war against Iran, American data centers and commercial interests in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were attacked. Tehran announced that these attacks were carried out in response to US attacks on Iranian civilian facilities

Since the signing of the memorandum between Iran and the United States in June, active conflicts have largely ended; But attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital bottleneck for global oil trade, have continued.

Why are data centers and internet cables vulnerable?

Because a huge amount of data passes through limited and narrow paths.

According to the estimates of the research company TeleGeography, more than 90% of the data transfer capacity between Europe and Asia passes through cables that are located on the bed of the Red Sea.

These cables enter the Red Sea from Bab al-Mandab Strait; The strait, which is about 26 km wide at its narrowest point, is considered one of the busiest sea routes connecting Europe and Asia.

Data centers that provide the infrastructure for running banking applications, cloud services, and many Internet services are large, fixed, and potentially vulnerable facilities.

Submarine cables may be severed by ships being hit or pulled by anchors, as well as sabotage. Repairing them in war zones also requires obtaining necessary permits and security guarantees.

Data centers that provide the infrastructure for running banking applications, cloud services, and many Internet services are large, fixed, and potentially vulnerable facilities.

Andreas Craig, a senior lecturer in security studies at King's College London, told Al Jazeera: "To take down an entire facility, you don't necessarily need to directly destroy its servers."

He explained that data centers depend on stable power, cooling systems and uninterrupted telecommunications to operate. According to him, continuous protection of submarine cables is difficult and their disruption can affect several countries at the same time.

Has Iran threatened data centers and internet cables?

Yes; Such threats have been repeated since the start of the war in February.

On March 11, Ambassador Arjan reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had published a list of "new Iranian targets". In this list, the cloud computing infrastructures belonging to Google, Microsoft and Oracle companies were located in Israel and some Persian Gulf countries.

In the same month, in a Telegram message, the Revolutionary Guards named 17 American companies, including Google, Meta and Apple, as possible targets. The UAE artificial intelligence company G42 was also on this list.

Craig: Mohsen Rezaei's threat should be taken seriously, but there is a difference between Iran's ability to cause widespread disruption and its ability to "systematically destroy the digital infrastructure of the Persian Gulf".

Craig said Mohsen Rezaei's threat should be taken seriously, but there is a difference between Iran's ability to cause widespread disruption and its ability to "systematically destroy the Persian Gulf's digital infrastructure."

He added: "The special importance of Mohsen Rezaei's warning is that he does not merely threaten another set of targets; Rather, it defines a new category of strategic infrastructure that directly links the economic diversification of the Persian Gulf countries to the technological power of the United States."

According to this expert, this warning is primarily aimed at deterrence, and its audience includes Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha as much as Washington. Such a threat can encourage regional governments to oppose the start of a new round of American attacks.

Have the technology infrastructure and communication cables been attacked before?

In March, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that two of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates were directly targeted by a drone attack. According to the company, an attack near one of its centers in Bahrain also caused physical damage to its infrastructure.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank announced that its application was unavailable due to information technology disruption at the regional level; However, the bank did not directly link the disruption to AWS.

In September, AWS announced that it was unable to fully restore services at several of its facilities in Bahrain and one facility in the UAE.

Three cables were damaged underwater in February 2024. According to a summary reported by the specialist website Data Center Dynamics, the prevailing assessment in the industry was that the anchor of the cargo ship Rubimar, which had previously been disabled by a Houthi missile attack, most likely caused the damage. It took several months to repair the cables.

Gulf states' militaries can intercept most incoming threats, but even a limited number of successful attacks may have disproportionate economic consequences. Relatively inexpensive drones are capable of threatening facilities that house billions of dollars worth of equipment.

In September 2025, two cables were cut near Jeddah and internet access was reduced in parts of the Middle East and South Asia. The cause of this incident has not yet been definitively determined.

Craig said the March attacks "revealed the limitations of the notion that commercial infrastructure automatically benefits from national air defense."

He added that Gulf states' militaries can intercept most incoming threats, but even a limited number of successful attacks may have disproportionate economic consequences. Relatively inexpensive drones are capable of threatening facilities that house billions of dollars worth of equipment.

Have the Houthis attacked submarine cables?

As far as the available information shows, the Houthis have not directly attacked the submarine cables. The group has also denied responsibility for the 2024 damages.

However, in mid-September, the Houthis captured the port of Mokha and the surrounding areas of Bab al-Mandab.

They arrived at Mayon Island on September 11; An island that divides the Bab al-Mandab strait into two parts.

On October 5, the internationally recognized government of Yemen announced that it had recaptured the port of Mokha and areas near the strait. The Houthis rejected this claim.

The geographical location of Bab al-Mandab is very important; Because this strait is one of the main routes for the passage of submarine cables and data transmission between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Any escalation of conflict in the region could increase the risk of damage to communications infrastructure, even if cables are not directly targeted.