You may have seen this scary headline on Facebook:
“Iran will cut ALL the world’s internet.”
Is it true? Or is it fake news?
We checked the real reports. Here is the simple truth.
The warning is real.
The “all the world’s internet” part is NOT true.
No cable has been cut. Nobody’s internet has stopped because of this warning.
What really happened?
On 19 October 2026, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) spoke at an event in Tehran.
His name is Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi.
He said there are seven major internet cables under the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
He claimed all the world’s internet and business data depend on them.
He also said: “New targets will be unveiled. New weapons will be unveiled.”
Iranian state TV IRIB reported his words, and Anadolu Agency reported the same statement via Türkiye Today.
Please note: He did not say “we will cut the cables today.” He was giving a warning. It was a message to the US and its partners.
What did another Iranian leader say before?
Earlier in October, Mohsen Rezaee spoke on Iranian TV. He is the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He is also a former IRGC commander.
He said: if war breaks out again, undersea cables, data centres and AI facilities in the region could come within Iran’s range.
He also said those places are not on Iran’s target list yet.
RFE/RL also reported on 20 October that Iran repeated this threat — that it would target the cables if war with the US resumes.
So the key word is IF. This is a threat for a future war. It is not an attack that has happened.
Do all the world’s internet cables pass under Hormuz?
No. This is the exaggerated part.
Experts who protect undersea cables disagree with Iran’s claim.
The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) said on 20 May 2026 that five active cable segments cross the Strait of Hormuz.
It used data from TeleGeography, a company that maps the world’s cables.
The ICPC said this route carries less than 1% of the world’s international internet bandwidth. You can read the ICPC figures in this EconoTimes report.
That means more than 99% of world internet traffic uses other routes.
Internet traffic can also be re-routed. If one route has a problem, companies can send data by other sea cables and by land cables.
So even in the worst case, the whole world will NOT go offline.
Why do people confuse this fact?
It is true that undersea cables carry almost all international data in the world — more than 90%.
But that is all undersea cables together, in all oceans.
It does not mean all those cables pass through Hormuz. Most pass through other seas, like the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
Many big Europe-to-Asia cables land in Oman or in Fujairah in the UAE. Fujairah is on the other side of the strait, facing the open sea. Those cables do not go deep inside the Persian Gulf.
Who will be affected most if cables are damaged?
The biggest risk is regional, not global. The Gulf countries are at risk.
Iraq is most at risk. Both of its main international cables pass through the strait. It has very few other routes.
Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain also have limited backup routes.
The UAE is safer because many of its cables land at Fujairah, outside the strait.
Saudi Arabia is safer because most of its international bandwidth comes from its Red Sea coast, on the other side of the country.
If several cables were damaged at the same time, people in the Gulf could face:
Slow or failed video calls and messaging apps
Problems with online banking and card payments
Delays in sending remittance money home
Slow cloud services, email and work systems
Buffering on streaming services
Repairs could also take a long time if ships cannot safely enter a war zone.
What about workers in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Pakistan?
Your internet will not stop because of Hormuz cables.
Hong Kong, the Philippines and Pakistan use other cable routes in Asia.
But if you have family working in the Gulf, they could have slow internet. You may not reach them easily for some time if there is real damage in the future.
That is why this news matters for OFW families, even if the scary headline is wrong.
Many of our readers work in the Gulf. If you are job-hunting for that region, see our simple guide on finding jobs in Dubai and the UAE with Indeed Dubai, and browse our other guides for foreign workers on InfoOmni.
What should OFWs in the Gulf do now?
Do not panic. Nothing has been cut. These are simple steps that are useful in any emergency:
Keep a small amount of cash with you, in case card payments stop for a short time.
Download important documents to your phone — passport copy, contract, IDs — so you can open them offline.
Save your family’s phone numbers offline, not only inside an app.
Tell your family now: “If I go offline suddenly, do not panic. It may be a cable or network problem.”
Keep your phone charged and keep a power bank ready.
Follow only official news and your embassy / consulate. Do not share scary posts you have not checked.
Do not pay anyone who promises to “protect your internet” or “save your money” because of this news. That is a scam risk.
Final answer: Should you share the Express post?
You can share the news, but please share it correctly.
Correct to say: “Iran warned that Hormuz internet cables could be targets if war resumes.”
Wrong to say: “Iran will cut all the world’s internet.”
The first one is what really happened. The second one is an exaggeration.
We will update this article if any cable is actually damaged, or if Iran, the ICPC or Gulf governments give new official information.
Sources we checked for this article
This part is only for checking — the facts above already link to their sources where they are stated. We checked the IRGC statement reported by IRIB and Anadolu Agency on 19 October 2026, the Express headline on 20 October 2026, RFE/RL’s live report on 20 October 2026, and the International Cable Protection Committee statement of 20 May 2026 using TeleGeography data.