Israel’s West Asian Allies Turn to Iraq for ‘New Silk Road’ Toward Europe

Turkiye, Qatar, and the UAE have joined Iraq in developing a land corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe, which has left a US–Israeli trade scheme in the dust

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on 7 May that projects encompassing the Development Road Project – a multi-billion land corridor stretching 1,200 kilometers from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea – are “nearing completion.”

“Projects are nearing completion. We will significantly reduce travel time between Asia and Europe via Turkiye. A ship departing from the Faw Port in Iraq and reaching Europe via the Suez Canal will save 15 days compared to the same cargo reaching Europe via the Development Road,” Uraloglu told Turkish daily Türkiye.

The official also spoke about the “significant costs” of the Development Road Project, which reportedly range “from $8 billion to $15 billion, possibly up to $20 billion.”

“The source of this financing could be the UAE, Qatar, or another country. The important thing is to secure capital under favorable conditions and to use it effectively,” Uraloglu said.

The entire project is expected to be completed within five years once the funding is secured.

Late last month, senior officials from Turkiye, Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE gathered in Iraq to sign a quadrilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to fund the land corridor, dealing a severe blow to the US-sponsored and Israel-centered India Middle East Europe Economic Corridors project (IMEC).

IMEC got complete support from US President Joe Biden during a G20 summit last September. The project aims to connect Asia and Europe via a system of railways and ports passing through India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Greece.

A few weeks after Biden’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu infamously presented a map of a “New Middle East” at the UN General Assembly in anticipation of a looming normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.

However, the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the Israeli genocide that followed, and the Yemeni blockade imposed on Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean threw all western plans for IMEC into disarray.

Doubts among international actors about the long-term viability of IMEC, given Israel’s genocidal actions and the resilient Yemeni blockade, prompted investors to consider the Development Road as an alternative, leading to last month’s summit in Baghdad.

🔗SOURCE ➡️ The Cradle

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