Iran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack Iran again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters on Friday.

Source: Reuters

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave few details and did not say how or where exactly Tehran would carry out such attacks. But one of them said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks, to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections, Reuters reported.

"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines … from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones," one of the officials told Reuters, warning Washington not to "play with fire" and saying Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.

The comments followed an on-record warning on Wednesday by Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of political affairs for Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), who said Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack, according to Reuters.

7major internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz named by the IRGC's Javani
99%share of global internet traffic carried by undersea cables, according to the ITU
<1%share of international bandwidth passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to TeleGeography

Analysts cited by Reuters said the global impact could be limited. Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography, told Reuters that less than 1% of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran and Oman and links the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The cables are, however, important for connectivity in the Gulf itself, where lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers live and work.

Reuters said the US Department of State and Iran's Foreign Ministry did not respond to its requests for comment on the Iranian security officials' remarks, and there was no immediate comment from Gulf states.

The warning comes as fears grow of renewed US-Israeli military action against Iran. Tehran's officials presented the cable plans as a response that would follow only if Iran is attacked again and if diplomacy with Washington collapses, Reuters reported.