Strait of Tiran
| Strait of Tiran | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Connects waters | Gulf of Aqaba |
| with water | Red Sea |
| Separates land mass | Sinai Peninsula |
| of land mass | Arabian Peninsula |
| Data | |
| Geographical location | 28 ° 0 '14 " N , 34 ° 27' 55" E |
 |
|
| Smallest width | 5 km |
| Islands | Tiran , Sanafir , 4 coral reefs |
The Strait of Tiran or Strait of Tiran connects the Gulf of Aqaba with the Red Sea , so it lies between the southern tip of Sinai and Saudi Arabia .
For Israel it offers access to the Indian Ocean , for Jordan the only connection to the ocean. It is named after the disputed island Tīrān between Saudi Arabia and Egypt /تيرانwhich is located at the entrance of the strait .
In the middle of the Strait of Tiran lie four coral reefs named after 19th century British cartographers: Jackson, Woodhouse, Thomas and Gordon. Strong currents provide reef plants and the small reef fish with plenty of food (e.g. plankton ). The latter are hunted by barracudas , mackerel , tuna and sharks .
Shortly before the Six Day War , Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. This was the Casus Belli for the Six Day War. US President Lyndon B. Johnson said after the war (June 19, 1967): “If a single, ill-considered act more than any other caused this outbreak, it was the arbitrary and dangerous decision to close the Strait of Tiran. All peoples must have the right to free travel on the sea routes. "
The blocking of the Strait of Tiran violated the Convention on Sovereign Rights at Sea and in the Adjacent Zones, which the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea had adopted on April 27, 1958.
Construction of a railway and road bridge over the Strait of Tiran
Since 1988, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been pursuing the construction of a rail and road bridge over the strait, which is to be approx. 32 km long, with varying intensity . So far, border traffic between the two countries has relied on sea and air routes if transit via Israel and Jordan is to be avoided.
