As US-Iran war escalates, Red Sea cable threat raises fear of internet disruption in India

As conflict in West Asia intensifies, concerns are growing over potential disruptions to global internet infrastructure, particularly undersea cables in the Red Sea. While Iran has not officially threatened such action, several accounts on X have raised alarms about possible cable damage amid rising tensions involving the US, Israel, and Iran.

The last major disruption occurred in September 2025, when a commercial vessel reportedly dragged its anchor and damaged multiple submarine fibre optic cables. This incident caused noticeable internet slowdowns across parts of West and South Asia. Now, with the conflict escalating and Yemen’s Houthi group entering the fray, fears of a deliberate attack have increased. The Iran-backed Houthis have previously issued threats on social media about targeting these critical cables, making the risk difficult to ignore.

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According to the International Cable Protection Committee, four key cables were affected in the 2025 incident: SEA-ME-WE 4, India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE), FALCON (GCX), and Europe India Gateway (EIG). Experts say that around 30% of cable faults each year are caused by ship anchors, but the current geopolitical climate raises the possibility of intentional disruption. These Red Sea cables are vital for global connectivity, supporting financial systems, cloud computing, video communication, email, and AI operations. Any damage could have widespread consequences.

What does it mean for India?

India, which was impacted during the 2025 outage, could again face disruptions. Although services did not completely fail, users experienced slow speeds and latency. With increasing dependence on digital payments, cloud infrastructure, and AI technologies, India remains vulnerable. Nearly 95% of international data is transmitted via undersea cables.

India currently connects through 17 cables across 14 landing stations, primarily in Mumbai and Chennai. However, this uneven distribution creates a risk; any disruption in these hubs could significantly impact connectivity across the country. As tensions persist in the region, the threat to critical internet infrastructure remains a growing concern for India and the world.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, the US, Gulf nations, and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.