A spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pointed to undersea internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and said new targets and weapons would be unveiled.
The spokesman, Hossein Mohebbi, spoke at Tehran's Sacred Defence Museum on Monday 19 October, according to state broadcaster IRIB, as carried by Anadolu via Bernama.
Mr Mohebbi said seven major cables ran beneath the Strait of Hormuz. He said all of the world's internet and commercial data traffic depended on them, and that the Guards were reminding the enemy of this.
He did not name any cables. He also did not say when the new targets would be revealed, or what they would be.
"We just want them to know that new targets will be unveiled. New weapons will be unveiled," he said, according to Anadolu and The Media Line.
According to The Media Line, Mr Mohebbi did not explicitly say that Iran had decided to attack the cables. Other outlets have described the remarks as a threat to target them, but his quoted words do not state this.
IBTimes UK reported that Mr Mohebbi also shared an apparent AI-generated image of a missile on X. It carried the caption "The world will see what will happen." He did not say what the image represented.
The claim that all internet and commercial data traffic depends on the cables is Mr Mohebbi's own assertion. Analysis by other outlets gives a different picture of the strait's role.
IBTimes UK and the website Coingape reported that the strait carries less than 1% of global international bandwidth. They said any disruption would therefore be regional rather than global.
The Media Line reported that most traffic between Europe and Asia uses other routes. Coingape named Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain as the countries most exposed. IBTimes UK said some Gulf states have few alternative routes.
The Media Line cited the data firm TeleGeography as identifying Asia-Africa-Europe 1, FALCON and Gulf Bridge International among the cable systems that cross the strait.
No reaction from the United States, Gulf governments or cable operators had been reported in the material reviewed. No Iranian official text of the remarks was available either, and the account rests on IRIB's report as relayed by other outlets.
Earlier in October, Mohsen Rezaei, described as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Press TV that cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities tied to US interests could be targeted if fighting resumed. This was reported by The Media Line and Anadolu.
Axar.az, also citing Anadolu, quoted Mr Rezaei as saying: "We have not yet included these assets among our targets." Coingape quoted him as saying such assets could come "within our range". Both are secondary reports of the Press TV interview.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is Iran's ideological military force. IBTimes UK reported that Mr Mohebbi became its spokesman earlier this year, replacing Ali-Mohammad Naeini. It described Mr Rezaei as a former IRGC commander.
The Media Line reported that Gulf governments are investing billions in data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure. It said repairing cables in contested waters would be difficult.
The Strait of Hormuz has been at the centre of tension between Iran and the United States in recent months. Mr Mohebbi's remarks were the latest in a series of statements from Iranian officials about infrastructure that could be targeted if fighting resumes.
Mr Mohebbi did not say what form the new targets or weapons would take. No timeline for any announcement has been given.
