It took a war in Iran to reveal the full extent of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s sway over the White House — and his centrality to mending the frayed US-India bilateral relationship.

Ten days after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, plunging global energy markets into chaos, a relatively obscure corporate entity in Texas broke the silence. America First Refining, the vehicle poised to fire up the first major, world-scale oil refinery on American soil since 1976, announced it had received a “nine-figure investment from a global supermajor at a 10-figure valuation.” More importantly, it had secured a 20-year purchase agreement for the refinery’s output from that same mystery partner.

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