Tiran Island

Tiran Island

Native name: جزيرة ثيران
Map of Tiran and Sanafir Islands
Tiran Island Tiran Island in the Strait of Tiran off the Southeastern coast of Sinai Peninsula
Geography
Location	Red Sea
Coordinates	27°57′N 34°33′E / 27.950°N 34.550°E / 27.950; 34.550
Total islands	1
Administration
Saudi Arabia
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited

Tiran (Arabic: جزيرة ثيران Jezîret Tīrān,^[1] Jazīrat Tīrān),^[2] and Yotvat Island,^[3][4] is a Saudi Arabian island that was formerly administered by Egypt. Sovereignty of the two Red Sea islands, Tiran and Sanafir, was ceded officially to Saudi Arabia as part of a maritime border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The agreement was subsequently approved by the Egyptian Parliament and finally ratified by President Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi on 24 June 2017.^[5]

The island is located at the entrance of the Straits of Tiran, which connect the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It has an area of about 80 square kilometres (31 square miles). It was part of the Ras Muhammad National Park. The Straits of Tiran are Israel's only access from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea, and Egypt's blockade of the Straits of Tiran on 22 May 1967 was the casus belli for Israel in the Six-Day War.^[6]

Tiran Island is of strategic significance in the area, as it forms the narrowest section of the Straits of Tiran, which is an important sea passage to the major ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel. Israel briefly took over Tiran Island during the Suez Crisis and again from 1967 to 1982 following the Six-Day War. The island is inhabited only by military personnel from Egypt^{[citation needed]} and the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO).

Chisholm Point is a cape of Tiran Island.

Some sources report that many beaches on the island are mined.^[7]

On 9 April 2016, the Egyptian government declared that Tiran and Sanafir Island fall within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia, as codified in the maritime border agreement signed with the government of Saudi Arabia on the previous day.^[8] The agreement needed to be ratified by Egypt's Parliament,^[8][9] and has reportedly been quashed by an Egyptian judge.^[10] A court in its final ruling rejected the deal and affirmed Egyptian sovereignty over the islands in January 2017.^[11]

On 14 June 2017, Egypt's House Committee on Defence and National Security unanimously approved the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia and the plan was passed by the Egyptian Parliament later the same day.^[12] On Wednesday 21 June 2017, Egypt’s top court temporarily halted all court verdicts on the agreement to transfer the two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.^[13] Finally, on Saturday 24 June 2017, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt ratified the agreement that cedes sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands, Tiran and Sanafir, to Saudi Arabia.^[5] On 14 July 2022, Israel agreed to the deal.