NEW YORK, September 22. /TASS/. The United States has proposed investing $5 bln in a new fund that would help Middle East countries rebuild energy infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

It is also planned to use the new fund’s resources to create infrastructure that will help reducing dependence of supplies of oil and gas on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report. Under US President Donald Trump’s plan, eight of Washington’s regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and Jordan, must contribute an amount matching the US investment to the fund, bringing its total size to $10 bln. The parties are still discussing the details of the new fund, the newspaper said, adding that whether other countries will join it remains unclear.

"The move is a tacit acknowledgment that the seven-month conflict has roiled the global energy market and destroyed regional pipelines and refineries that will be costly to rebuild," according to the publication.

The United States and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the agreements on the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 25% of the world’s oil trade and about 20% of liquefied natural gas trade pass. Later the US effectively signaled that it would stop using large-scale military force against Iran and shift to an attempt to economically smother it with sanctions.