Qatar warns Hormuz cable disruption would hit region hardest, urges peaceful U.S.-Iran resolution

During Tuesday’s weekly press briefing at MoFA, Ibrahim Al Hashmi said that countries across the region rely on the Strait of Hormuz’s waters for irrigation, salt production and fisheries, warning that damage could threaten water security.Qatar has said any disruption to undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz would affect countries across the region, including Iran, and called for attacks and threats targeting the waterway to stop immediately.Ibrahim Al Hashmi, director of the Media and Communications Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said at Tuesday’s weekly press briefing that countries in the region, including Iran, would bear the greatest impact of any disruption to undersea cables.“If someone on the Iranian side reflected honestly on the situation, they would ask: who is the biggest victim?” Al Hashmi asserted.The MoFA spokesperson added that neither the United States nor Israel would suffer the greatest impact, but countries across the region, including Iran.“Will it be the United States? Will it be Israel, which does not benefit from the Gulf’s waters? Or will it be the countries in the region, including the Iranian people?”The remarks follow an earlier warning from Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, who warned that cables, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities across the region could be attacked if war with the United States erupts again.The warning comes as the capture of Yemeni territory along the Red Sea coastline last month by the Iran-backed Houthis has raised concerns over the safety of internet cables linking Europe and Asia. Fighting is under way between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis at several locations, including Bab al-Mandeb, through which nearly one-fifth of global internet traffic passes. Al Hashmi said countries across the region rely on the Strait of Hormuz’s waters for irrigation, salt production and fisheries, warning that damage could threaten water security.“Water security in the Strait of Hormuz is an integral part of water security for our region and our people,” he said, adding that Iran had a responsibility to protect the waters, uphold international law on freedom of navigation and preserve the marine environment.He called for the “irresponsible attacks” to stop immediately, warning that they harmed people across the region.Al Hashmi reiterated Qatar’s commitment to mediating the US-Iran crisis, stressing that a peaceful resolution is the only way to preserve regional stability. He said mediators must remain optimistic and continue working tirelessly to reach an agreement as soon as possible.“We hope that the solution will be tomorrow, or today, as soon as possible,” Al Hashmi said. “Therefore, we must remain optimistic and work tirelessly and relentlessly to reach a solution.”Al Hashmi said it was unacceptable for mediators to give in to despair or consider military action a viable solution, warning against further escalation.“We must be focused on a peaceful solution at the negotiating table,” he said. “It is the only solution that preserves the region and its stability. And we must work towards that with every possible effort.”Iran’s seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was conveyed through Qatari mediators, with Tehran seeking an end to the U.S. maritime blockade, sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets.