Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that Gulf data centres and cables could be attacked if war with the US resumes, Al Jazeera reported.
Mr Rezaei said cables, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities across the region could be hit if conflict with the United States broke out again, according to Al Jazeera, which cited Iranian state media.
He said the US has "extremely expensive" assets in the United Arab Emirates and around the Strait of Hormuz. He said these had not yet been included among Iran's targets, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, which published its report on 12 October.
Dawn quoted Mr Rezaei as saying that "if war breaks out, many of these cables, data centres, AI facilities and numerous other sites will be destroyed". The remarks were conditional on a new war starting.
Dawn said it was reporting what Al Jazeera had carried from state media. Tehran Telegraph has not seen the original Iranian state media text of Mr Rezaei's remarks.
No response from the US, the UAE, Bahrain or other Gulf governments had been reported.
Al Jazeera and Dawn both describe Mr Rezaei as Iran's security chief. His current official title was not confirmed in the reports reviewed. He is a veteran Iranian politician and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Al Jazeera said Iran has threatened data centres and undersea cables several times since the war began in February. It cited a report on 11 March by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Al Jazeera reported that a US-Israel war on Iran began in February 2026. It said data centres and US business interests were hit in Bahrain and the UAE during the fighting.
According to Al Jazeera, Tehran described those attacks as a response to US attacks on Iranian civilian installations. It did not say what other responses there had been.
Al Jazeera said active hostilities have largely ended since a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US in June. It said attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz have continued.
Al Jazeera also looked at how exposed the region's internet connections are. Citing the research firm TeleGeography, it said more than 90% of data capacity between Europe and Asia passes through cables under the Red Sea.
Those cables enter the Red Sea through Bab al-Mandeb, a strait about 26km wide at its narrowest. Al Jazeera's sub-headline said Houthi allies of Iran "hold" this internet chokepoint.
Al Jazeera quoted an expert, whose name was not available to Tehran Telegraph, as saying undersea cables are difficult to protect continuously. The expert said disruption can affect several countries at once.
Cables can be cut by ship anchors or by sabotage. Repairs in a war zone need permits and safety guarantees. Data centres, for their part, rely on constant power, cooling and telecommunications links.
Al Jazeera's headline said Iran "threatens" Gulf data centres. Mr Rezaei's remarks, as quoted by Dawn, were framed around what would happen if war broke out again.
What happens next depends largely on whether the June understanding between Iran and the US holds. Further statements from Iranian officials, any reaction from the US or Gulf governments, and any new incidents near the Strait of Hormuz or in the Red Sea are likely to be closely watched.
