The Trump administration is advancing a $10 billion plan to rebuild damaged Middle East energy infrastructure and develop new oil and gas routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz, Channel 14 reported, citing The Wall Street Journal.

Under the proposal, Washington would invest $5 billion into a new fund known as the Partnership for Allied Trust and Construction, or PACT, while seeking another $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq and Jordan.

The project is aimed at reducing the region’s dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies pass.

However, Gulf officials and experts have reportedly expressed concerns that without an agreement restraining Iran, billions spent on new pipelines and terminals could simply create additional targets for Iranian missiles and drones.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)