Amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran over the criticalStrait of Hormuz, Iraq and Syria have pitched an alternative oil trade route. Iraq and Syria have reopened a key border crossing between the two nations for the first time in more than a decade. The crossing — known as Rabia in Iraq and Yarubiyah in Syria — was closed after the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Then in 2014, militants from the Islamic State group seized the area. Iraqi Kurdish forces later retook it. It is being pitched as a route for trade and oil exports, reported AP.
Syria touted the crossing as a safe overland route for oil exports and an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz at the focus of the Iran war. The officials said that the key border crossing offers an alternative to the embattled Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the Iran war. At the opening ceremony on Monday, Nadia al-Jubouri, a member of Iraq’s provincial council of Nineveh, said the crossing will allow for "trade exchange and oil transportation towards this great gate," as quoted by the news agency.
However, overland oil transports are considered far inferior to pipelines and oil tankers at sea.
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The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, and about 20-25 per cent of the world's total oil passes through it. However, hundreds of vessels have been stranded in the region since the beginning of the US-Israel-Iran war on February 28.
Iran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz following US-Israeli joint strikes on the country, with only letting vessels from "friendly" nations pass. As the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon appeared on hold, Iran on Friday announced that it will open the waterway for all commercial vessels. However, it again closed the waterway on Saturday, in retaliation to the US naval blockade.
The strait is closed until the US blockade is lifted, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy said on Saturday night. It warned that "no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as cooperation with the enemy" and be targeted.
For Iran, the strait's closure — imposed after the US and Israel launched the war on February 28 during talks over Tehran's nuclear program — is perhaps its most powerful weapon, threatening the world economy and inflicting political pain on President Donald Trump.
For the United States, the blockade keeps up pressure and could strangle Iran's already weakened economy.
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