An oil pipeline company established decades ago by Israel and Iran, and a new Israeli company that is meant to replace it, can continue to operate secretly, an Israeli parliamentary committee ruled on Sunday. The Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co (EAPC) was a joint venture set up in 1968, when the two nations were friendly, to transport Iranian oil via Israel to the Mediterranean. Ties were cut after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, and the enemies are now locked in arbitration that could be worth billions of dollars. Although Iranian oil no longer flows through the pipeline, EAPC has become a major distributor of oil in Israel, with ambitions to become a leading trade hub. It also added a reverse-flow system so oil from the Black or Caspian Seas can be shipped from Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city and port, to southern Asia and the Far East, and increased its […]