Iran Eyes Strait of Hormuz Cables That Carry 95% of Gulf AI Traffic

Iran is considering taking control of seven undersea cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries an estimated 95 percent of Gulf nations' international data traffic. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have invested billions in AI infrastructure positioning themselves as compute exporters. The threat creates a single point of failure for critical systems spanning financial services, healthcare, energy, and government—sectors already served by partnerships like Microsoft's investment in UAE-based G42.