Straits of Tiran

Background

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 wide. It has two passages deep enough to be navigable by large ships. The Enterprise passage, 290 m deep, is adjacent to the Egyptian side, while the 73 m-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 m deep.{{cite journal

Closures in 1948–1956 and 1967

Main article: Israeli passage through the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran

Access to Jordan's only seaport of Aqaba and to Israel's only Red Sea seaport of Eilat is through the Gulf of Aqaba, which gives the Straits of Tiran strategic importance. In 1967, 90% of Israeli oil passed through the Straits of Tiran, making it a target of Egyptian blockade during the Arab League boycott of Israel.{{cite book

In May 1967, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol repeated declarations that Israel had made in 1957, saying that closure of the Straits of Tiran would be an act of war. Egypt then blockaded the straits on May 22, 1967, and oil tankers that were due to pass through the straits were required to submit documents ensuring their cargo was not destined for an Israeli port.{{harvp|Shlaim|Louis|2012

In May 1967, Major-General Indar Jit Rikhye was the Commander of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai Peninsula when Egypt deployed its own troops in that territory and demanded that Rikhye withdraw all of his troops. Rikhye did withdraw, including from the port at Sharm El Sheikh adjacent to the straits. The subsequent closure of the Tiran Straits by Egypt was closely linked to the preceding UNEF withdrawal, because having the peacekeepers (rather than the Egyptian military) at Sharm El Sheikh was important for keeping that waterway open. Later in life, General Rikhye sought to downplay the importance that Israel attached to keeping that waterway open, saying that Israel's accusation in 1967 of a blockade was "questionable" given 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".{{cite book

The US president at the time, Lyndon Johnson, said the following about closure of these straits being a cause of the Six-Day War:

Bridge project

The Saudi–Egypt Causeway, a proposed project to build a 15 km bridge across the straits, linking Egypt and Saudi Arabia, is under consideration by the Egyptian Government.

References

References

1. Aronson, Geoffrey. (August 27, 2015). "The Multinational Force of Observers and the Sinai Storm".
2. (Jan 25, 2002). "The Future of the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai".
3. "MFO - Origins".
4. Robert Priewasser, Tiran Island and Straits of Tiran. Unexplained Sovereignty over an Island in the Context of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Saarbrücken: Akademikerverlag, 2013)
5. Oren, Michael B.. (2002). "Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East". Oxford University Press.
6. Neff, David. ''Warriors for Jerusalem: The Six Days that Changed the Middle East'', p. 88 (Simon & Schuster, 1984): "In separate messages to the leading maritime powers, Eshkol warned: 'Israel would stop short of nothing to cancel the blockade. It is essential that President Nasser should not have any illusions.'"
7. [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Israels+Foreign+Relations+since+1947/1947-1974/26+Statement+to+the+General+Assembly+by+Foreign+Mi.htm "Statement to the General Assembly by Foreign Minister Meir, 1 March 1957"] (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs): "Interference, by armed force, with ships of Israeli flag exercising free and innocent passage in the Gulf of Aqaba and through the Straits of Tiran will be regarded by Israel as an attack entitling it to exercise its inherent right of self-defence under Article 51 of the Charter and to take all such measures as are necessary to ensure the free and innocent passage of its ships in the Gulf and in the Straits."
8. (13 February 2012). "The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences". Cambridge University Press.
9. Quigley, John (December 2012). ''The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-Defense'', Kindle Location 485. Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.
10. Segev, 2007, op. cit., p. 274.
11. Ben Gad, Yitschak. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zRyAT5qNtjQC&pg=PA182 ''Politics, Lies, and Videotape: 3,000 Questions and Answers on the Mideast Crisis''], p. 182 (SP Books, 1991).
12. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19670619&id=valVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5448,4112160 LBJ Pledges U.S. to Peace Effort]", ''Eugene Register-Guard'' (Jun 19, 1967). See also Johnson, Lyndon. [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28308 "Address at the State Department's Foreign Policy Conference for Educators"] (June 19, 1967).
13. Najla Moussa. (2 March 2006). "Bridge connecting Egypt, Saudi Arabia considered". Daily News Egypt.