PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   According to an analyst, the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis is pushing countries to accelerate development of alternative trade routes linking the Gulf to Europe, with Iraq’s $24 billion “Development Road” project leading these efforts.

The corridor running from Iraq’s Grand Faw Port through Turkey and onward to Europe is advancing “with discipline,” Muhanad Seloom, an analyst at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Digital, describing the initiative as a “permanent” and “transformative” wartime shift.

Seloom made these remarks as President Donald Trump warned Tehran against further escalating tensions in the Gulf, and indicated the U.S. is prepared to take action to keep the strait accessible.

Iranian forces have placed mines and issued threats against commercial traffic in the narrow waterway. As of Sunday, the shipping route remains effectively closed to most traffic.

“Iraq’s Development Road means every container moving through Basra instead of Iranian-controlled waters cuts down Tehran’s leverage over Iraq,” Seloom said.

“Independent estimates place the actual scale of the Development Road at close to $24 billion, and the project is now moving with discipline,” he noted.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani officially opened the first 63-kilometer section of the Development Road in 2025. The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion by 2028.

“What the Iraqi government billed as a flagship of its statecraft now has a clear regional justification, with governments and financiers viewing it as essential rather than an aspirational goal,” explained Seloom, who also works as an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

“Sudani appears to be positioning Iraq exactly where its geographic location has always suggested it belongs, as a connecting state between the Gulf, Turkey and Europe,” he remarked.

Seloom notes that other regional infrastructure projects are also being advanced in parallel alongside the Development Road.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West Petroline pipeline is currently operating near its maximum 7 million-barrel-per-day capacity, with expansion plans currently under review.

The UAE’s ADCOP pipeline leading to Fujairah is also running at full capacity, and discussions for a second parallel line are underway, he said. “Turkey’s Zangezur and Middle Corridors, which bypass Iran via the Caucasus, are four to five years away from completion.”

He added: “Six Gulf-backed overland fiber optic projects are also currently in progress, running across Syria, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.”

Iran reinstated closure measures for the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, cutting daily traffic down to just a small number of vessels, compared to the pre-war average of roughly 130 to 140 ships per day.

These restrictions, which apply to commercial ships, have faced widespread criticism in recent days, and vessel interceptions in the area date back to the start of the war on February 28, when Tehran first moved to block transit following U.S.-Israeli strikes.

“Hormuz remains irreplaceable for global energy trade, but it is no longer treated as the default route. That shift is permanent as a result of the war,” Seloom stated.

Seloom said Iraq’s corridor is “potentially transformative,” with projected annual transit revenue of $4 billion, and will support Iraq’s repositioning from an oil-dependent rentier state to a regional logistics hub.

“Turkey will be the single largest beneficiary. Combined with the Zangezur and Middle Corridors, Ankara becomes the primary overland bridge between Asia and Europe,” he said. “Europe will gain an additional overland trade option on a timeline starting after 2028, but there will be no relief for the current crisis from these projects. They will marginally reduce Europe’s structural dependence on the unreliable Suez–Red Sea trade axis.”