Since the announcement of that Israeli “under the Med” pipeline project, the idea of the US backed pipeline going through Israel has made sense. Just make the undersea section of the pipeline bigger, or double up on the route.
Does anyone know if the Russian-backed Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline would continue as a pipeline under the Med, or would gas be tankered out from the Syrian coast?
For that matter, if distrust of Israel is the issue, why not run the pipeline south of Israel, through the Gulf of Aqaba, and up through the Sinai to the Med? Portions of the Gulf of Aqaba may be too deep (6000 ft.!), but not all of it is. There doesn’t appear to be anything about the undersea terrain, going north into the Med from the Sinai, that looks much tougher than going into the Med from Israel.
Sure, it’s a lot of money to build such a pipeline, but compared to the costs and risks of all this conflict...???
The fly in the ointment is that this leaves the Iran pipeline in place. I am sure that is unacceptable to the Saudis, and maybe to us, as it gives Iran more money to develop nukes, fund Hezbollah, etc. The curious thing is that it also gives Russia more competition, so, does Russia REALLY support a pipeline from Iran, or does Russia intend to just keep the region in turmoil: Prop up Assad in power, but not dominantly so.
That last is a BIG “maybe” when it comes to Obummer, as he was giving money to Iran...