The Radical IRGC STILL showing their UNCOMPROMISING TRUE COLORS; Threatening to CUT the UNDERWATER INYERNET CABLES in the STRAIGHTS to THREATEN their WILL in lieu of NUCS!!!
𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐀 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐔𝐙 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖 “𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒” 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘.
After cutting off 𝟗𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 from the global internet for over 𝟕𝟎 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 — the longest nationwide blackout ever recorded (NetBlocks; The National) — the regime is extending that same control offshore.
On April 22, 2026, IRGC-affiliated 𝘛𝘢𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘮 news agency issued a veiled threat about the 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫-𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 passing through or near the Strait of Hormuz, framing them as “𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺” (MEMRI; Iran International, April 22, 2026).
Foreign cable operators, per Iranian state-linked outlets, would now need Iranian permits, comply with Iranian regulations, pay Iranian fees, and hand over maintenance to Iranian-linked entities (The Jerusalem Post; Stimson Center).
These are not minor links. The Strait of Hormuz cables carry the bulk of internet, banking, cloud, and financial traffic between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait depend on them for everything from interbank settlement to ATM networks (Asia Times).
The doctrine is simple. Cut your population off when they protest at home. Threaten to cut everyone else off when they pressure you abroad. Hybrid warfare by cable, not missile.
The message to Persian Gulf states is unmistakable. Host U.S. or Israeli operations and your banking system goes dark. Escalate pressure on the regime and your data center becomes 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.
This is what survival looks like for a regime that has lost its conventional navy, lost its air defenses, lost its proxies in Syria and Lebanon, and is now down to threatening the cables under the very water Israeli and U.S. ships patrol freely.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬
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