Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025

Why does Saudi Arabia want Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir?

Why does Saudi Arabia want Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir?

A multinational peacekeeping force will leave a strategic Red Sea island by the end of the year, the US says, potentially boosting opportunities for future contact between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The White House has announced that peacekeepers including US soldiers will leave the strategic Red Sea island of Tiran by the end of the year, possibly boosting opportunities for future contact between Israel and Saudi Arabia

“Thanks to the months of quiet, persistent diplomacy, we have finalised an agreement to move international peacekeepers from Tiran Island in the Red Sea and transform an area that once sparked wars into a future hub of peaceful tourism and economic development,” US President Joe Biden said at a summit in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, after the move was first announced on Friday.

Egypt ceded the two small Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which are uninhabited but of key strategic value, to Saudi Arabia in 2016. But their territorial status needs to be ratified by Israel before their sovereignty is transferred.

The decision to remove peacekeepers could help resolve the tricky status that stems from their location and turbulent history and build trust between Israel and Saudi Arabia – two US allies that are now taking gradual steps that Washington hopes could one day lead to full diplomatic ties.


Who owns territorial claim over the islands?


*  The islands have been under the sovereignty of Egypt since 1950.

*  Israeli troops invaded the islands during the 1956 Suez Crisis that came after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal, which was instrumental to trade between Europe and Asia.

*  Egypt regained control briefly for about a decade, but the islands – along with the Sinai Peninsula – were occupied by Israel again following the 1967 war.

*  Under the landmark 1978 Camp David peace treaty, Israel returned control of the Sinai, Tiran and Sanafir to Egypt.

*  In 2016, Egypt ceded the islands, located east of its resort town Sharm el-Sheikh, to Saudi Arabia.


Why did Egypt cede control of the islands to Saudi Arabia?


*  The controversial April 2016 decision by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to hand over territorial sovereignty to Riyadh sparked nationalist protests in Egypt, which were quickly stifled.

*  Critics accused el-Sisi of ceding the islands in return for Saudi aid and investment. The government argued the islands were originally Saudi Arabian but leased to Egypt in the 1950s.

*  Egyptian courts handed down a series of contradictory rulings before the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the handover.

*  It is worth noting that in 1990, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak voluntarily relinquished control of the two islands to Saudi Arabia.

*  It took two decades, in 2010, for Riyadh to post its maritime baseline at the United Nations to make its sovereignty claim, to which Egypt consented.

What is the strategic importance of the two islands?


*  Tiran controls the maritime passage in the strategic stretch of the Red Sea, meaning that it controls all shipping to Eilat, Israel’s only access to the Red Sea.

*  Saudi Arabia says it wants to develop the islands for tourism.

When did Saudi Arabia first stake a claim to the islands?


*  Saudi Arabia’s first claim to the islands was made by King Saud bin Abdulaziz in 1957, and was supported by the US.

*  At the request of the US ambassador to Riyadh at the time, Saudi Arabia released a statement in 1968 again staking claim to the islands and pledging free maritime passage should it fall in their hands.

What human presence is there on the islands?


*  As part of the Sinai’s demilitarisation following the Camp David agreement, Cairo was not allowed to station troops on the islands, where only peacekeepers were based as part of the so-called Multinational Force and Observers.

*  Tiran – which hosts a small airport for the peacekeepers – measures about 61sq kilometres (24sq miles), while Sanafir, to the east, is only about half that size.

*  The islands’ waters are occasionally visited by divers for their coral reefs.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
×