A spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday that seven major data cables run beneath the Strait of Hormuz and that new targets and weapons would be unveiled.
Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), spoke at Tehran's Sacred Defence Museum, according to the Media Line. His remarks were carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and by the Fars news agency.
He said the world's internet and commercial data traffic depend on the cables, the Saudi Gazette reported. He also said new targets and new weapons would be unveiled.
"We just want them to know that new targets will be unveiled. New weapons will be unveiled," Mr Mohebbi said, according to the Media Line and the Saudi Gazette.
The Media Line reported that Mr Mohebbi did not explicitly say Iran had decided to attack the cables. It described his comments as a warning rather than an announced decision.
Translations of the speech differ. Fars, as reported by TASS and the Azerbaijani outlet 1news.az, quoted him as saying underwater communication cables could become Iran's new targets.
According to the same Fars-based reports, Mr Mohebbi said that if the region became unsafe for Iran, there would be no security in the region for anyone. TASS also quoted him as saying Iran did not rule out the possibility of war and that its response would be much harsher this time.
He warned the United States against fresh attacks. He also vowed to drive what he called the remnants of US power out of the region, according to Anadolu, as republished by the Malaysian Reserve, which cited IRIB.
No response from the US government, Gulf states or the cable industry had been reported in the coverage reviewed by Tehran Telegraph.
Earlier this month, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Press TV that Iran could target undersea cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities linked to the US if war resumed. The council is Iran's top security body.
Mr Rezaei also said: "We have not yet included these assets among our targets."
Mr Mohebbi also posted an image on X that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence and showed a missile. The caption said the world would see what would happen. He did not say what it referred to.
The claim about the world's internet is disputed. IBTimes UK reported that analysts said the strait carries less than 1% of global international bandwidth, so any disruption would be regional. The outlet said several Gulf states have few alternative routes.
The number of cables is also disputed. The website House of Saud, which leans towards opinion, said the International Cable Protection Committee counts five active cable segments in the strait, not seven. Tehran Telegraph has not independently verified either figure.
Mr Mohebbi became IRGC spokesman earlier this year, according to IBTimes UK. He replaced Ali-Mohammad Naeini. The IRGC is an elite branch of Iran's armed forces.
The remarks follow a war that the United States and Israel launched on Iran on 28 February 2026, according to Anadolu. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The US later imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Drone attacks in early March damaged Amazon Web Services infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the Saudi Gazette reported. The damage caused physical harm, power disruption and cloud outages.
TASS reported that the US later signalled an end to large-scale military force and a shift towards economic pressure through sanctions. It said US President Donald Trump did not rule out further strikes on 10 October.
The Saudi Gazette also reported that, according to the research firm TeleGeography, more than 90% of data capacity between Europe and Asia passes through cables under the Red Sea. It said Iran-backed Houthis control key coastal areas at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The IRGC said new targets and weapons would be announced. It had not said when, and no US reaction had been reported.
