Straits of Tiran

The Straits of Tiran (Arabic: مضيق تيران‎ Maḍyaq Tīrān) are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separate the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about 13 km (7 nautical miles). The Strait of Tiran is named after Tiran Island located at its entrance 5 or 6 km from the Sinai, on which the Multinational Force and Observers has an observation post to monitor the compliance of Egypt in maintaining freedom of navigation of the straits as provided under the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

Sanafir Island lies to the east of Tiran, southeast of the shallow strait between Tiran and Saudi Arabia.

Access to Jordan's only seaport of Aqaba and to Israel's only Red Sea seaport of Eilat is contingent upon passage through the Gulf of Aqaba, giving the Straits of Tiran strategic importance. Egypt's blockade of the Straits to Israeli ships and ships bound for Israel in 1956 and again in 1967 was, respectively, the catalyst to the Suez Crisis and the casus belli to the Six-Day War.[1][2] Despite this, according to Major General Indar Jit Rikhye, military adviser to the United Nations Secretary General, the accusation of a blockade was "questionable", pointing out that an Israeli-flagged ship had not passed through the straits in two years, and that "The U.A.R. [Egyptian] navy had searched a couple of ships after the establishment of the blockade and thereafter relaxed its implementation".[3]

Ninety percent of Israeli oil passed through the Straits of Tiran.[4] Oil tankers that were due to pass through the straits have been delayed.[5][6]

However, Israel viewed the Straits of Tiran as a vital interest as it is where Israel received vital imports, mainly oil from Iran, and it threatened Israel's ability to develop the Negev.[7]

International documents inconsistently refer to both the "Straits of Tiran" and the "Strait of Tiran". There are several passages formed by the islands between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The westernmost strait, between Egypt and the island of Tiran, overlooked by the Egyptian city Sharm el-Sheikh is the "Strait of Tiran", 5 or 6 km wide. It has two passages deep enough to be navigable by large ships. The Enterprise passage, 290 metres (950 ft) deep, is adjacent to the Egyptian side, while the 73-metre (240 ft) deep Grafton passage, surrounded by shallows, is to the east, nearer to the island of Tiran. To the east of Tiran, between it and Saudi Arabia, the other strait has reefs and shallows with a single channel 16 metres (52 ft) deep.[8]

A project to build a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) bridge across the straits, linking Egypt and Saudi Arabia, is under consideration by the Egyptian government (see Saudi–Egypt Causeway).[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robert Priewasser, Tiran Island and Straits of Tiran. Unexplained Sovereignty over an Island in the Context of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Saarbrücken: Akademikerverlag, 2013)
  2. ↑ Oren, Michael B. (2002). Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515174-7.
  3. ↑ Rikhye, Indar Jit (1980). The Sinai Blunder: Withdrawal of the United Nations Emergency Force Leading to the Six-Day War of June 1967. London: Rutledge. ISBN 0-7146-3136-1.
  4. ↑ Avi Shlaim; William Roger Louis (13 February 2012). The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences. Cambridge University Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-107-00236-4. 90% of Israeli oil was imported through the Straits of Tiran
  5. ↑ Avi Shlaim; William Roger Louis (13 February 2012). The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences. Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-107-00236-4.
  6. ↑ "Daily brief to the U.S president on 27 May 1967". 27 May 1967. diverted as was a sister ship yesterday
  7. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=oUSbvWDgYucC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=israel+exports+straits+of+tiran#v=onepage&q=israel%20exports%20straits%20of%20tiran&f=false
  8. ↑ Carl F. Salans (December 1968). "Gulf of Aqaba and Strait of Tiran: Troubled Waters". United States Naval Institute Proceedings 94 (56).
  9. ↑ Najla Moussa. "Bridge connecting Egypt, Saudi Arabia considered". Daily News Egypt. March 2, 2006.

External links

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Coordinates: 28°00′14″N 34°27′55″E / 28.00389°N 34.46528°E