{"text":[[{"start":0,"text":"The US is discussing a $10bn joint investment fund with Arab states to repair energy and other infrastructure damaged during the Iran war, while also building new pipelines and other facilities, to help the region circumvent the Strait of Hormuz."}],[{"start":22.32,"text":"Washington would commit $5bn to the initiative, known as the Partnership for Allied Construction & Trust, while regional states would be expected to fund a similar amount in a new holding company, according to a draft presentation seen by the FT."}],[{"start":36.42,"text":"The initiative is intended to neuter Iran’s ability to disrupt the region’s energy exports by attacking shipping in the strait, the waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed before the war."}],[{"start":47.96,"text":"The presentation described Pact as a “historic $50bn+ investment platform” that would drive investment “in strategic energy and infrastructure assets in and across allied countries in the Middle East”."}],[{"start":59.38,"text":"It said sovereign wealth funds and private capital firms would be able to invest alongside the holding company. The presentation lists investors including Blackstone, BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR as examples."}],[{"start":72.52,"text":"A person familiar with the matter said that at least some of the investment firms named in the presentation were “blindsided” when they discovered Donald Trump’s administration had mentioned them in the draft proposal."}],[{"start":83.52,"text":"Three other people briefed on the matter confirmed the US was discussing the proposal with regional partners. The US president was expected to meet Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York on Tuesday."}],[{"start":96.655,"text":"The US would chair the Pact board, with technical negotiations between Washington and Arab states to begin in October, the presentation said."}],[{"start":104.16,"text":"The shuttering of traffic through the strait has pushed up global oil and gas prices, with Brent crude trading at just under $100 a barrel. In the US, the price of a gallon of diesel has hit record highs."}],[{"start":115.04,"text":"“Pact is a co-operative mechanism to keep exports moving and ensure that one chokepoint cannot halt regional energy flows,” the presentation said. “No single country can build this redundancy alone, and the more routes that exist, the less leverage adversaries have over global energy systems.”"}],[{"start":131.6,"text":"Iran slowed shipping through the Hormuz to a trickle after the US and Israel launched their war against the Islamic republic in February, turning the closed strait into its most important source of leverage in its battle with the Trump administration."}],[{"start":145.82,"text":"Some Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are already discussing or planning new pipelines to transport crude to ports outside the Hormuz to reduce their dependence on the strait."}],[{"start":158.08,"text":"But that infrastructure is also vulnerable to attack. This month, Riyadh shut the vital East-West pipeline it has used to transport crude from its oil-rich east to the Red Sea coast after the infrastructure was hit by a drone launched from Iraq, where Iran-aligned Shia militias and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are active."}],[{"start":177.84,"text":"While the US is escorting some oil tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz, the flow of other key commodities, including liquefied natural gas, petrochemicals and feedstock for fertilisers, through the waterway is negligible."}],[{"start":190.84,"text":"Michael Wahid Hanna, programme director at the International Crisis Group, said Arab states would invest with the US if the economics of the projects made sense."}],[{"start":200.04,"text":"“Many people have started to think about having more routes out and to build in more resiliency, which are all reasonable ideas. But you are not going to see these states engaged in fanciful economic projects for Donald Trump’s sake,” he said."}],[{"start":213.36,"text":"“They will bear in mind what these investments look like in a world in which conflict has receded and the oil has settled at a less volatile point,” he added. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the initiative."}],[{"start":225.64,"text":"The White House declined to comment. Blackstone, GIP and KKR did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":239.2,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790125768_4827.mp3"}