Ships Linked to Iran Hover Over Subsea Cables in the Strait of Hormuz
A pattern of naval movements unprecedented in recent years is drawing the attention of maritime intelligence analysts and digital infrastructure operators: at least four ships linked to Iran have been detected navigating slowly directly above submarine fiber-optic cable corridors in the Gulf of Oman between October and November 2026, in behavior that experts cannot explain as part of normal logistics operations.
Tracking data collected by the maritime intelligence firm Windward and initially reported by the Financial Times shows that three U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers and a 34-meter Iranian fishing craft adopted identical behaviors as they approached specific zones where telecommunications cables pass: they reduced speed, described circuits, reversed direction, or simply turned off their AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders and went "dark" for hours or days.
The product tanker Celestial Sea, a petroleum vessel on the U.S. sanctions list, remained for more than four hours directly above the 2Africa cable off the coast of Oman on October 14. The following day, the same vessel disappeared from tracking for approximately 86 hours after turning off its transponder between the 2Africa and Bay of Bengal Gateway cable corridors, which connect the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sri Lanka, and India. The vessel was only detected again when it had already dropped anchor about 16.7 kilometers off the coast of Oman, before turning back.
Meanwhile, the Iranian fishing vessel waited for several days directly above the cable carrying the Europe India Gateway and Transworld links, between October 21 and 26, in a passive loitering that corresponds to no known fishing activity in the region.
Why this matters
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most congested chokepoints on the planet for global maritime traffic — but digital security analysts are now drawing attention to a less visible dimension of the same route: the seabed, where the backbone of digital communications between Europe, Asia, and Africa lies.
According to data from TeleGeography, six active subsea cables traverse the Strait of Hormuz, with three more — Fiber in Gulf, Sea-Me-WE 6, and 2Africa — under construction. The 2Africa, the most advanced, is a 45,000-kilometer project aiming to connect the Middle East to Africa and Europe, and counts on participation from a tech consortium that includes Meta. Work on that regional section was paused by the company in March, precisely due to the escalating conflict.
Four countries — Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar — depend entirely on the subsea cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz to maintain any internet connection with the outside world. None of them has viable terrestrial or satellite alternatives with equivalent capacity. In addition, roughly one-third of India's westbound internet traffic transits through this corridor.
Any physical damage to these cables would have an immediate and devastating impact on Gulf economies, regional data center infrastructure — which underpins the entire artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital services ecosystem of the Middle East — and global intercontinental data routes.
Iran's threats
The naval maneuvers did not emerge in a vacuum. Over recent months, Iranian officials have been openly vocal in their threats against digital infrastructure.
On October 19, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi highlighted before the press the seven major subsea cables operating through the Strait of Hormuz and declared openly that Iran intended to attack them in retaliation for any new U.S.-led military operations against its territory.
Iranian threats are directed specifically at digital infrastructure as an asymmetric warfare vector. Iran knows it cannot compete with the United States in conventional air or naval space — but a cut subsea cable is a single point of failure affecting millions of people, entire economies, and global connectivity itself.
In April 2026, the IRGC had already designated 18 American technology companies as "legitimate targets" in case of escalation. Since then, the conflict has seen strikes on data center infrastructure in Iran itself and on facilities in neighboring Gulf nations.
The geopolitical context
The Iranian ships' movements intensified following statements from President Donald Trump, in the period leading up to the U.S. midterm elections of November 2026, that the United States could launch new military operations against Iran. Trump confirmed on November 6 that "limited strikes" had been carried out against Iranian air defense systems, without specifying the scope or exact location of the operations.
Trump himself mentioned, during an exchange with reporters on Friday, November 6, that negotiations with Iran were ongoing: "We are talking to Iran. We have been doing so for some time," the president said.
Meanwhile, the United States has continued to move military assets into the region, fueling the cycle of threats and counter-threats. Russia and the United Arab Emirates have intensified regional diplomacy, but tension around the Strait of Hormuz remains at its highest level since the beginning of the conflict.
Infrastructure community response
The digital infrastructure community has reacted with caution. Windward itself, which provided tracking data to the Financial Times, stated that the observed behaviors "do not correspond to any other vessel in the region" and that "cargo logistics do not justify this movement pattern."
Estefania Mayer, senior researcher at the New America Foundation think tank, noted in an interview with the Financial Times that "artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data centers, and other digital activities in the Gulf depend on submarine fiber-optic cables — there is no viable alternative." Any interruption to these cables "would not be just an Iranian or regional problem: it would be a global-impact event for international data chains."
The question is whether these maneuvers constitute mere intimidation or represent active preparation for a real attack. Recent history of digital infrastructure attacks — including incidents in Yemen, the Persian Gulf, and the Black Sea — suggests the threat is not theoretical. What makes this case particularly concerning is the physical proximity of the ships to the cables, the temporal persistence of the maneuvers, and the complete absence of any commercial or logistical justification. When warships disguised as tankers begin circling above the cables that sustain global internet, the line between hybrid warfare and open war grows thinner with each passing day.
How many subsea cables would it take to paralyze Gulf communications — and how many would it take to make the entire world pay attention?
Sources: Financial Times, Silicon Report, Kantan.News
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
