# Iran's Security Chief Threatens Gulf Oil Routes That Bypass Hormuz as a Cyberattack on a British Plant Is Reported

Mohsen Rezaei told Iranian state broadcasting that neighbours joining what he called America's economic war will be treated as enemies, while The Telegraph reported that Iran-linked hackers shut a small United Kingdom power plant for four days.

- Published: 2026-08-23T05:11:27.014Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-08-23/iran-s-security-chief-threatens-gulf-oil-routes-that-bypass
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-security-chief-threatens-neighbors-against-new-us-economic-measures/article71380026.ece), [Ynet](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hyil8cpdmx), [Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/6f664a31-ca24-4a16-a6e9-5978fdf2512c?syn-25a6b1a6=1)

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would target oil shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf that serve as alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz if neighbouring states join American economic measures against Tehran. Countries that do so would be considered enemies, and "we will target their interests," he said in remarks [reported by The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-security-chief-threatens-neighbors-against-new-us-economic-measures/article71380026.ece). Rezaei described a sequence that begins with negotiation and persuasion and ends in action only if governments continue to side with Washington, according to [Al Jazeera's account](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/22/iran-warns-nearby-nations-against-joining-us-economic-war-efforts) of the same interview.

The threat is aimed at the workarounds themselves. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates built cross-country pipelines to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman precisely to move barrels without passing Hormuz.

Separately, the Israeli outlet [Ynet](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hyil8cpdmx), citing The Telegraph, reported that hackers linked to Iran shut down a small British power plant for four days last month, an incident that drew little public attention. A British government spokesperson said the country maintains strict security standards and that no danger arose to the wider energy system. Iran has not claimed the operation.

The [Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/6f664a31-ca24-4a16-a6e9-5978fdf2512c?syn-25a6b1a6=1) reported in parallel that Iranian attacks exposed the vulnerability of the American military footprint across the Gulf, raising the question of whether Washington should rebuild bases it has held since the 1990s.

## What this means

Iran is extending its coercion from the chokepoint itself to the alternative routes, which removes part of the backup capacity that Gulf exporters built with pipelines. If shippers judge the bypass routes to be targets, tanker insurance and freight rates rise on all Gulf loadings, not only on Hormuz transits, and that cost reaches European and Asian refiners through crude differentials. The reported attack on a British power facility extends the same logic to energy infrastructure far from the region, where the defender is a utility rather than a navy.

## What to watch

- War risk insurance premiums on tankers loading at Red Sea and Gulf of Oman terminals, which would show whether underwriters take Rezaei's threat as credible.
- Whether Gulf governments publicly distance themselves from new American economic measures, a sign that Iranian pressure is working without any attack taking place.
- Attribution statements from British authorities on the power plant incident, since a formal attribution would move the dispute from deniable operations to state-level response.