Newsflash: Iraq and Syria Growing More Closely Connected

This summer, Iraq began exporting crude oil overland through Syria to the Mediterranean Sea. The new route is intended as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, as the international oil trade seeks to reduce its dependence on the strait because of the war with Iran. According to the Syrian state oil company, about a thousand tanker trucks now travel daily from Iraq to the Syrian port city of Banyas.

At the same time, work is underway to restore the old oil pipeline between Kirkuk in northern Iraq and Banyas. In addition, there are plans for much larger investments in pipelines, roads, railways, and ports. This could once again turn Syria into an important transit route between Iraq and the Mediterranean Sea. For Iraq, this would also open a strategic western outlet to Europe, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

Remarkably, these developments are increasingly connecting the territories of Syria and Iraq economically. Moreover, the planned corridor runs through the Euphrates region, which since antiquity has formed an important route connecting Mesopotamia and Syria.

From a biblical-prophetic perspective, this development is worth watching. After all, the territory of present-day Syria and Iraq once formed the domain of Assyria, while both Assyria and the Euphrates figure prominently in prophecy. Could an economic and perhaps ultimately geopolitical unity begin to take shape here again?

Sources:
NOS – International Oil Trade Seeks to Bypass the Strait of Hormuz and Turns to Syria
Reuters – New Syria-Iraq crude pipeline still years away, sources say
Reuters – Iraq starts work on Basra-Haditha oil pipeline

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