Iran-linked ships loiter near undersea cables off Oman

Four Iran-linked vessels showed unusual activity near undersea communication cables in the Gulf of Oman during October 2026, ship-tracking firm Windward said. The activity raised sabotage concerns.

Ars Technica reported that Iran-linked tanker ships have lingered over submerged internet lines in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. Windward followed the vessels using ship-tracking data and satellite images as the ships slowed and circled near cables, with some disabling AIS transponders that broadcast a vessel’s position.

Windward said three tankers under sanctions and an Iranian fishing vessel repeatedly slowed, circled or disabled tracking equipment near important subsea cable routes in October. An Iranian fishing vessel stayed near the Europe India Gateway and Transworld cable links from Oct. 21 to Oct. 26. Three tankers slowed or changed course near the 2Africa and Falcon routes.

The Celestial Sea circled close to the 2Africa cable for more than four hours on Oct. 14. The ship turned off its tracking gear between the 2Africa corridor and the Bay of Bengal Gateway corridor the following day. It then steered toward another cable route before dropping anchor off northern Oman.

Windward said the vessels behaved normally until they reached particular cable corridors, then slowed, looped, reversed course, lingered or switched off tracking. The firm said the pattern matches efforts to map routes or to place charges or mines on the lines while tracking is off. Windward also said two tankers carried no cargo and that all four vessels disabled tracking systems at times in the previous month.

In an Oct. 26 blog post, Windward wrote that two Iran-linked tankers under sanctions moved across regional cable routes with no commercial reason to pause, and both ships carried no cargo.

Sidharth Kaushal of Britain’s Royal United Services Institute described the ships’ movements as possibly coincidental. He said Iran may want to demonstrate it can damage undersea infrastructure during a conflict. Jon Pentreath, a retired Royal Navy rear admiral, said commercial ships could be altered to lay naval mines, though such missions normally need specialized gear. Masha Kotkin of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said harm to the lines could slow payments and interrupt cloud access across the region, and that security worries have delayed work on submarine cable projects.

On Oct. 23, two Iranian security officials told Reuters that Tehran planned to strike undersea cables if the United States and Israel launched new attacks on Iran, and one official said Iran could block repair work to stretch out communication outages. Officials in Tehran also said subsea internet cables, data facilities and other systems around the Persian Gulf might be attacked if Washington and Israel carry out renewed military strikes.

Six active communication cables pass through the Strait of Hormuz linking the Middle East with Europe, Africa and Asia. Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar depend entirely on subsea telecommunications links through the strait for links to the outside world. International internet traffic between Persian Gulf nations and the rest of the world moves on undersea cables. One third of India’s westbound Internet traffic passes through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Ars Technica reported that two more cables have sections under construction in the region. The 2Africa cable is part of a technology consortium that includes Meta, the U.S. company.

Officials have confirmed no damage to the undersea cables. On Nov. 6, Donald Trump said Washington continued talks with Tehran while renewed military action remained an option. According to reports, Iran sent a nuclear proposal via Qatari intermediaries, asking for sanctions relief, payment for war-related harm and reduced U.S. troop levels in the Middle East.