Saudi Arabia is examining a significant change to the route of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, with the aim of removing Israel from the project and routing it through Syria instead, according to two sources familiar with the discussions who spoke to i24NEWS.

The corridor, unveiled at the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, was designed to connect India and Europe through a network of ports, rail lines and shipping routes running through the Gulf states, Jordan and Israel. Under the original plan, goods were supposed to move from Saudi Arabia through Jordan into Israel, and from there continue to Europe through the Port of Haifa.

According to the sources, the war in Gaza and the freeze in normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia have led Riyadh to examine alternatives. One of the main options under consideration is rerouting the corridor through Syria, creating a land connection between the Gulf and the Mediterranean without passing through Israeli territory.

“They are examining different options, and one of them is Syria,” one of the sources told i24NEWS.

If the route is ultimately changed, it could deal a significant blow to Israel, which viewed the economic corridor as a strategic and economic asset and as part of the broader regional vision that was meant to accompany a future normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)