by Pepe Escobar,The Unz Review:
The war of choice on Iran by the US is not only redefining geopolitics but also interfering with, destabilizing, and reorienting whatThe Cradledescribed in June 2022 asThe War of Economic Connectivity Corridors; arguably the key geoeconomic paradigm of Eurasian integration in the 21stcentury.
From east to west and north to south, these corridors interlock virtually all major players across Eurasia.
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Let’s dig deeper into what may be the four most important vectors: the China-driven New Silk Roads/ Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) east-west corridor; the Russia-Iran-India International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC); theIMEC(India-Middle East Corridor); and the proposed corridors linking Turkiye with Qatar, Syria andIraq.
China’s New Silk Roads/BRI advances through a multiplicity of corridors from Xinjiang to western Eurasia, including the Northern Corridor (via the Trans-Siberian in Russia) and theMiddle Corridor(via Kazakhstan and across the Caspian to the Caucasus and Turkiye).
Iran at the center of Eurasian integration
But it is Iran’s ultra-strategic geography that has positioned it since the Ancient Silk Roads as the definitive crossroads between east and west; a role rekindled by the New Silk Roads/BRI launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013.
One of its crucial vectors, included in the 25-year, $400 billionChina-Iran dealsigned in 2021, is the BRI-integrated China-Iran overland corridor. It is essential for bypassing American maritime dominance, the decades-long sanctions barrage on the Islamic Republic, and sensitive chokepoints such as the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Suez Canal.
The first freight train from Xian, China’s former imperial capital, arrived at Aprin’s dry port in Iran, located 20 km from Tehran, which was inaugurated only three years ago in May. This marked the official start of this corridor, cutting transit times from up to 40 days by sea to a maximum of 15 days by land.
Source: SGT Report
