{"id":1696,"date":"2026-06-18T13:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1696"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:41:19","slug":"europes-29-billion-iran-war-bill-is-driving-a-scramble-for-new-energy-routes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1696","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s $29 billion Iran War bill is driving a scramble for new energy routes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Here is a look at what the European Union is contemplating to bolster its energy security and minimize the impact of future conflicts as it turns to Gulf states and India.<\/p>\n

Read more The froyopocalypse is over. Gen Z is swarming frozen yogurt shops like it\u2019s 2010<\/a><\/p>\n

A corridor to India is one option<\/h4>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed renewed interest in what is known as the\u00a0India-Middle-East-Europe Economic Corridor.<\/p>\n

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She told G7 leaders at this week\u2019s summit that \u201calternative export routes have been created that are more resilient and offer choices\u201d while \u201cother routes will be built \u2014 for example, a typical one is IMEC.\u201d<\/p>\n

IMEC is seen as potentially offering the EU greater economic resilience, supply-chain diversification and energy security to bolster the bloc\u2019s strategic autonomy at a time when Russia shows few signs of curbing its\u00a0belligerence\u00a0and the U.S. chips away at strategic bonds.<\/p>\n

While the EU itself has supported IMEC through a memorandum of understanding, only a handful of its 27 member states are formal signatories. But behind the scenes, political commitment to IMEC is strong, according to a high-ranking EU diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn\u2019t authorized to disclose the contents of confidential discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus now is on translating that vision into practical implementation across its three pillars: transport and trade connectivity, energy connectivity and digital connectivity,\u201d said the diplomat, who has participated in high-level meetings to discuss the initiative. It could involve new pipelines and transmission cables, among other infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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The EU\u2019s press office declined to provide a prospective timeline for the project.<\/p>\n

IMEC would pass through Israel and enjoys its support. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0last year said\u00a0he had spoken with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about IMEC, calling it \u201ca very revolutionary and transformative development that we want to bring into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lianne Pollak-David, co-founder of the Israel-based Coalition for Regional Security, told a recent online briefing that U.S. leadership would be key to moving IMEC forward by helping in the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an essential player in the project.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWithout normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, IMEC cannot be truly realized,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Saudi Arabia has said it will only normalize relations with Israel if accompanied by a clear pathway to Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu opposes.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear how the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel and damaging to Gulf Arab countries, may influence Saudi Arabia\u2019s thinking.<\/p>\n

Asked about their position regarding IMEC, Saudi officials declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Skirting Middle Eastern trouble spots is a goal<\/h4>\n

Von der Leyen has said the EU in the first 54 days of the Iran war shelled out 25 billion euros ($29 billion) more to import oil and gas while facing the risk of a\u00a0longer-term jet fuel shortage.<\/p>\n

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She and European Council President Antonio Costa said during an\u00a0EU leaders\u2019 meeting in April\u00a0that the bloc is \u201cready to team up with Gulf countries\u201d to help set up new energy infrastructure circumventing conflict hot spots like the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Read more The G7 just pledged to break China\u2019s rare earth grip \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of work to do<\/a><\/p>\n

The value of such alternatives is evident in the East-West Pipeline running across Saudi Arabia from its eastern oil fields to the Red Sea. After the Iran war started, Aramco\u00a0ramped up transport\u00a0to the maximum capacity of 7 million barrels of oil per day.<\/p>\n

The leaders of G7 nations are discussing ways of financing and building infrastructure, \u201csometimes on the terrestrial part, that will be able to go outside of the track of the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Neither Von der Leyen nor Costa have provided specifics on EU-backed projects, which could also form part of IMEC. But an EU official told the AP that the bloc would encourage European companies to invest in renewable energy projects in the Gulf to supply the EU\u2019s energy demand. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they can\u2019t speak about the EU\u2019s plans publicly.<\/p>\n

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Getting the EU involved with collaborative projects in Gulf countries will take time, according to Gabriel Mitchell, an analyst with the German Marshall Fund think tank. The most likely projects in the near term are oil and gas pipelines, which have the shortest construction timeline, and subsidizing repairs at Gulf facilities that Tehran targeted during the war.<\/p>\n

Mitchell said any new projects would need to fall in line with the EU\u2019s green policies, which means pipelines, for example, would likely be built with future \u201cdual-use\u201d capabilities of transporting both gas and possibly hydrogen.<\/p>\n

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A transmission line would connect regions<\/h4>\n

Another project is the Great Seas Interconnector, an\u00a0EU-backed electricity cable\u00a0envisioned to stretch 1,208 kilometers (750 miles) to connect the power grids of continental Europe with EU member Cyprus and eventually Israel.<\/p>\n

The GSI is bogged down in red tape over its financing, but its potential is significant not only for ending the energy isolation of Cyprus and Israel but also acting as an energy link to India and likewise forming part of IMEC.<\/p>\n

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Gallia Lindenstrauss, senior fellow with the Israel-based Institute for National Security Studies, hailed GSI as a \u201cvery pragmatic solution for the modern energy needs\u201d that paves the way for the transition to green energies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs energy security and grid backup move to the forefront of the global agenda, this project provides a flexible platform,\u201d Lindenstrauss said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is helping to foster closer energy ties among Greece, Cyprus and Israel as it sees the Eastern Mediterranean as \u201can increasingly important region for global energy development,\u201d U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said last week.<\/p>\n

Wright was in Houston to inaugurate the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center at Rice University that aims to boost cooperation on developing natural gas deposits, U.S. liquefied national gas infrastructure and energy transportation networks in the European region.<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Brussels and John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Read more We\u2019ve now got the full text of the U.S.-Iran peace deal\u2014and allies are appalled at the gains it hands to Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU is fast-tracking IMEC, undersea power cables and Gulf pipeline deals \u2014 but all options run through an Israel-Saudi normalization that may not come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-union"],"yoast_head":"\nEurope\u2019s $29 billion Iran War bill is driving a scramble for new energy routes - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1696\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Europe\u2019s $29 billion Iran War bill is driving a scramble for new energy routes - 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