Tasnim News Agency, an Iranian news outlet linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published a report April 22 suggesting that Gulf states are vulnerable to sustaining damage to their undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz. Specifically, the report claimed that "simultaneous damage to several major cables — whether through accidents or deliberate action — could trigger severe outages across the Persian Gulf."

Nine sea cables run through the Strait of Hormuz, with myriad others crossing between Gulf states within the strait. Because Iran's internet is largely contained and heavily disconnected from the broader global network, the country is relatively insulated from internal disruption if it were to attack regional sea cables. The Iranian Navy could leverage submarines, naval drones or weaponize the myriad sea mines already laid.