If you thought the crisis centered on the Strait of Hormuz couldn’t get worse, think again. The oil and shipping choke point may also soon become a digital pressure point. That’s if Iranian leaders heed the IRGC‑affiliated Iranian news agency Tasnim (via Iran International), which has called for generating revenue by charging fees on the multitude of undersea internet cables that pass through the channel.
Tasnim is regarded as an official mouthpiece for the IRGC (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). Those watching the situation in the Gulf may recall that the IRGC often speaks for the government regarding military policy. So Tansim's ideas for extracting value from the $10 trillion of transactions estimated to be pulsing through these cables daily won’t merely be the musings of some journalist.
