Trump’s Syria-Iraq pipeline plan aims to weaken Iran’s leverage – opinion

US President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on July 8, discussing economic recovery and foreign investment, and subsequently removed Syria from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Trump praised Sharaa for "doing an unbelievable job in unifying Syria." A week later, Trump met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, also expressing a desire for a stronger long-term relationship and expanding economic ties, particularly in the oil and gas sector. Although not explicitly stated, these meetings are reportedly linked to a US-backed plan to revive the Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline from northern Iraq to Syria's Mediterranean coast. This project aims to provide Iraq with a strategic alternative to exporting oil through the Strait of Hormuz, reducing Iran's regional leverage and potentially transforming Syria into a major energy transit hub. The pipeline, originally built in 1952 and shut in the 1980s, would need to be entirely replaced, a project estimated to take up to three years, with US companies like Chevron potentially involved.