Chokepoint · Red Sea
Straits of Tiran
OpenUpdated November 1, 2026
The Straits of Tiran are the passage between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Tiran Island at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. The shipping channel is about 6 km wide. The strait is the only sea access for Israel's port of Eilat and Jordan's port of Aqaba. Egypt's closure of the strait in 1967 was one of the triggers of the Six-Day War.
- Width, Sinai to Tiran
- About 6 km
- 13 km across Tiran Island to Arabia
- Deepest channel
- 290 m
- the Enterprise Passage
- Ship calls at Eilat, 2024
- 16
- 134 in January–October 2023
- Shores
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Where are the Straits of Tiran?
The Straits of Tiran lie between the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula and Tiran Island. The Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and the headland of Ras Nasrani sit on the Sinai shore. Tiran Island is about 80 km², uninhabited, and rises to 524 meters at Jabal Tiran. The island sits roughly 5 to 6 km off Sinai.
Four coral reefs, Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson, run through the strait. The main shipping channel, the Enterprise Passage, lies on the Egyptian side. It is about 290 meters deep and about 1.2 km wide. The Grafton Passage, closer to Tiran, is 73 meters deep. A shallow channel on the Tiran-to-Saudi-Arabia side is only 16 meters deep.
The strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. That gulf is the only sea route to Israel's port of Eilat, Jordan's port of Aqaba, and the Egyptian towns of Taba and Nuweiba.
SINAI(EGYPT) SAUDI ARABIA Tiran Sanafir Gulf of Aqaba Red Sea Sharm el-Sheikh Ras Nasrani
SINAI(EGYPT) SAUDI ARABIA Tiran Gulf of Aqaba Red Sea Sharm el-Sheikh Ras Nasrani
Why did the Straits of Tiran lead to war?
Egypt occupied Tiran and nearby Sanafir Island in December 1949, with Saudi Arabia's agreement. King Abdulaziz let Egypt take charge because Saudi Arabia had no navy. Egypt then blocked Israeli ships from passing through the strait.
Israel captured Sharm el-Sheikh on November 5, 1956, during the Suez War. On February 11, 1957, the United States said in a formal note that the Gulf of Aqaba was international waters, where no nation could block free passage. Israel withdrew in March 1957. Foreign Minister Golda Meir told the UN General Assembly on March 1, 1957, that armed interference with Israeli ships would justify self-defense. A UN Emergency Force took up positions at Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt's President Nasser announced the closure of the strait on May 22, 1967. Israel treated the closure as a cause for war. The Six-Day War began on June 5, 1967. Israel held Sinai and the islands until April 25, 1982. Under the Egypt-Israel peace treaty of March 26, 1979, Article V calls the strait and the Gulf of Aqaba "international waterways open to all nations for unimpeded and non-suspendable freedom of navigation and overflight." The Multinational Force and Observers has monitored the area since April 25, 1982.
The straits and Israel's wars
- December 1949Egypt occupies Tiran and Sanafir with Saudi agreement and blocks Israeli shipping.
November 5, 1956Israel captures Sharm el-Sheikh during the Suez War.
March 1957A US note calls the Gulf of Aqaba international waters. A UN force moves to Sharm el-Sheikh.- May 22, 1967Nasser announces the strait's closure. Israel calls it a cause for war. The Six-Day War begins June 5.
- March 26, 1979Egypt-Israel peace treaty declares the strait an international waterway, open to all nations.
Who owns Tiran and Sanafir?
Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a maritime border agreement on April 8, 2016, during King Salman's visit to Cairo. Egypt's cabinet said both islands lie in Saudi waters. Protests broke out in Egypt. On January 16, 2017, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court annulled the deal as a territorial concession barred by Article 151 of Egypt's constitution. Parliament approved the deal on June 14, 2017, and President Sisi ratified it on June 24, 2017. On March 3, 2018, the Supreme Constitutional Court voided the earlier contradictory rulings.
On July 15, 2022, US President Biden announced that international peacekeepers, including US troops, would leave Tiran Island. The plan replaced observers with cameras, including at the MFO's Sharm el-Sheikh camp. Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to all civilian carriers the same day. The MFO's detachment reportedly left Tiran in 2023.
Saudi Arabia published an official map in September 2023 showing the islands as Saudi territory. Saudi Arabia controls the islands in practice. The formal treaty steps remain unfinished. Egypt's handover letters to Israel and the United States had not been sent as of April 2025. In May 2025, 57 Egyptian lawyers filed a lawsuit to suspend the transfer. No ruling has been found. A King Salman Bridge linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt across Tiran was announced in 2016. No construction has been found.
How the islands passed to Saudi Arabia
- April 8, 2016Egypt and Saudi Arabia sign a maritime border agreement placing both islands in Saudi waters.
- January 16, 2017Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court annuls the deal under Article 151 of the constitution.
- June 14–24, 2017Parliament approves the deal. President Sisi ratifies it on June 24.
- March 3, 2018The Supreme Constitutional Court voids all earlier contradictory rulings.
- July 15, 2022Biden announces peacekeepers will leave Tiran. Cameras to replace observers.
- 2023The MFO reportedly leaves Tiran. Saudi Arabia publishes an official map showing both islands as Saudi.
Why is Eilat's port almost empty?
The Straits of Tiran themselves are open. The danger is about 1,800 km to the south, at Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea. The Houthis in Yemen seized the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023, and began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. Ship calls at Eilat fell from 134 in the first ten months of 2023 to 16 in all of 2024 and 6 in the first half of 2025. Revenue dropped from NIS 212 million in 2023 to NIS 42 million in 2024.
Eilat Municipality froze the port's bank accounts over unpaid tax, and the port suspended operations on July 20, 2025. On June 8, 2026, the Houthis declared a complete ban on Israeli ships in the Red Sea. Car imports returned partly through transshipment at Jordan's Aqaba, with about 21,000 vehicles reaching Eilat via Aqaba in January to July 2026. Eilat's share of Israel's vehicle imports fell from 44.4% before the war to about 15%. The port's owners, the Nakash brothers, hold a concession that expires in January 2028. Israel's Transport and Finance ministries do not intend to extend it.
Jordan's Aqaba handled 20.51 million tonnes of cargo in the first nine months of 2026, up 14.3%. Container transshipment rose 151.8%.
Ship calls at the port of Eilat
The straits over the years
- Dec 1949Egypt occupies Tiran and Sanafir islands with Saudi agreement. King Abdulaziz let Egypt take charge because Saudi Arabia had no navy to defend them.
- Nov 1956Israel captures Sharm el-Sheikh during the Suez War. It withdraws in March 1957, after the United States says the Gulf of Aqaba is international waters.
- May 1967Egypt's President Nasser announces the closure of the strait on May 22. Israel calls it a cause for war. The Six-Day War begins on June 5.
- Mar 1979Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty on March 26. Article V declares the strait and the Gulf of Aqaba international waterways open to all nations.
- Apr 2016Egypt and Saudi Arabia sign a deal that places Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters. An Egyptian court annuls it in January 2017, but parliament approves it and President Sisi ratifies it that June.
- Nov 2023The Houthis seize the Galaxy Leader on November 19 and begin attacking ships in the Red Sea. Traffic at Eilat collapses.
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