Iran’s threats to Gulf airports, pipelines and undersea cables raise risk for regional infrastructure
Senior Iranian officials have warned that Tehran would strike airports, oil pipelines and other civilian sites in Gulf states if the U.S. or Israel resumed attacks on Iran, and told Reuters they’ve drawn up plans to hit undersea internet cables in the Gulf. The threats put energy, aviation and digital networks at the center of any future confrontation.
Gulf governments are being told to brace not only for missile or drone fire on military sites, but for potential blows to the infrastructure that underpins their economies.
Recent reports say Iranian officials have threatened to attack airports, oil pipelines and other civilian infrastructure in Gulf states if the United States and Israel resume strikes on Iran. The warnings broaden the list of possible targets beyond bases, ships and direct military assets to include facilities that handle daily passenger flows and energy exports.
Two senior Iranian security officials have gone further in comments to Reuters, saying Iran has prepared detailed plans to attack undersea internet cables in the Gulf if Washington or Israel launches further attacks. They said Tehran aims not only to damage the cables but also to hinder repairs, in order to extend outages. Those links carry data vital to internet services, banking and cloud‑computing operations across the region and beyond.
These threats come as oil prices are already elevated. Brent crude has climbed to about 117 dollars a barrel, a five‑month high, as traders absorb Iran risks alongside other geopolitical concerns. Disruption to pipelines or export terminals in the Gulf would likely push prices higher.
European officials are watching closely. German Foreign Minister Thorsten Frei Wadephul has said that a new military escalation involving Iran must be avoided and that a military solution is not possible. He warned that such a conflict would damage the global economy and affect people in Europe, and has called for a sustainable diplomatic solution based on what he described as genuine willingness from Iran to negotiate and drop maximalist demands.
Wadephul has also argued that Iran and the Houthi movement must stop attacks on ships, airports, infrastructure and neighboring states. He accuses them of holding the global economy hostage through strikes on international shipping and links their actions to humanitarian crises in Yemen and food crises in parts of the Global South.
From Tehran’s perspective, these are presented as potential responses to what Iranian officials describe as hostile actions by the United States and Israel, including previous strikes inside Iran and sanctions that constrain its economy. By naming airports, pipelines and undersea cables as possible targets, Iran is signaling to Gulf monarchies that hosting U.S. assets or supporting U.S. policy carries direct risks for their civilian sectors.
Turning infrastructure into a battlefield has immediate implications for residents and foreign workers in Gulf cities. Damage to runways, fuel depots or air‑traffic systems could shut down busy airports that serve as global hubs. Interference with undersea cables would cut or slow connections that banks, logistics companies and governments depend on.
The most telling signs of whether these threats are moving closer to implementation will be physical rather than rhetorical. Movements of Iranian missile and drone units toward launch areas, new or reinforced air defenses around Gulf airports and pipeline junctions, and any attempts to approach or harass cable‑laying or repair ships in the Gulf would all indicate how seriously both sides are preparing for infrastructure to be drawn into a future clash.
Sources
- OSINT