Cyber Awareness

Iran Warns of Attacks on Gulf Data Infrastructure Amid Houthi Advances

By Nils Adler

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that undersea cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities across the Gulf could be targeted if a new conflict with the United States erupts. The warning follows the Iran‑backed Houthis’ recent capture of Yemeni territory along the Red Sea coast, raising concerns about the safety of internet cables that link Europe and Asia. Fighting continues between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis at several locations, including Bab al‑Mandeb, through which nearly one‑fifth of global internet traffic passes. Data centres and U.S. business interests were hit in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates during the U.S.–Israel war on Iran. Tehran said these attacks were in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian civilian installations. While active hostilities largely ended after the June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the U.S., attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz have continued.

Why are data centres and internet cables vulnerable? More than 90 percent of data capacity between Europe and Asia travels through cables under the Red Sea, entering the sea through Bab al‑Mandeb, a strait about 26 km wide at its narrowest. Cables can be cut by anchors or sabotage, and repairs in a war zone require permits and safety guarantees. Data centres are large, fixed targets that depend on uninterrupted electricity, cooling and telecommunications. An attack does not need to destroy the servers themselves to render an entire facility inoperable.

Has Iran threatened to attack data centres and cables? Yes. On March 11, the semi‑official Tasnim news agency reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had published a list of “Iran’s new targets”, including cloud infrastructure belonging to Google, Microsoft and Oracle in Israel and some Gulf states. That same month, the IRGC named 17 U.S. firms in a Telegram post, including Google, Meta and Apple, as well as the Emirati AI company G42, as potential targets. Rezaei’s warning is described as “fundamentally about deterrence”, aimed at Gulf governments as well as Washington.

Have tech infrastructure and cables been attacked before? In March, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said two of its facilities in the UAE were “directly struck” by drones, while a strike near one in Bahrain caused physical impact to its infrastructure. In September, AWS said it could not restore several sites in Bahrain and one in the UAE. Undersea cables were damaged in February 2024, most likely by the dragging anchor of the Rubymar, a cargo ship disabled by a Houthi missile, according to industry consensus. In September 2025, two cables were cut near Jeddah, slowing internet access across the Middle East and South Asia; no cause has been confirmed.

Have the Houthis attacked undersea cables? Not directly, as far as is known, and the group has denied causing the 2024 damage. In mid‑September, the Houthis seized the port of Mocha and territory around Bab al‑Mandeb, and on September 11 they reached Mayyun Island, which splits the strait in two. On October 5, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it had retaken Mocha and positions near the strait; the Houthis denied it.

Are there alternatives to the Red Sea? Some, but they cost more and are still being built. On September 10, Iraq signed a contract with Qatar’s Ooredoo to carry data from the Gulf to Europe across its territory. On October 7, Ooredoo’s international arm agreed to buy fibre from Iraq’s iQ Networks to extend the route towards Turkey, subject to government approval. Microsoft said in September it would invest more than $400 million in subsea and land connectivity across the Middle East by 2030. Google and Meta have reportedly begun sending some traffic through Iraq.

How will it affect the Gulf’s tech hub ambitions? Investment continues, but the war has already taken a toll on the sector. Gulf states have staked their post‑oil economies on technology. In Abu Dhabi, the Emirati firm G42 is building Stargate UAE with OpenAI, Nvidia and others, within a planned 5‑gigawatt UAE‑US AI campus. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund launched Humain, an AI company chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in May 2025 to build data centres and an Arabic‑language AI model. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund joined the U.S. investor Blue Owl in a $3 billion data centre push in September 2025. Microsoft said it would invest more than $10 billion in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE through 2030, with a new focus on “digital resilience”. AWS said it had “exhausted every option” to restore some data hosted in Bahrain. The threats are expected to change the economics and geography of AI investment, but not to fundamentally reverse Gulf ambitions. The UAE is particularly exposed because its AI strategy is deeply integrated with American technology companies, making Emirati infrastructure more attractive as a target for Iran. Qatar, with its diplomatic ties to Tehran, is somewhat better positioned politically. The Gulf’s emerging digital economy faces a new risk that could make reliability itself a geopolitical bargaining chip.