For any country, national territorial security is its unshakable bottom line.
However, the "island of Tiran", located at the entrance to the Red Sea, is an exception, Egypt does not want it, and Saudi Arabia has been shirking it, and the two sides have been transferring each other like playing ball.
What's going on here?
Great location on the island of Tiran
On the map, the island of Tiran is actually located between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
However, compared to Saudi Arabia, which is very rich in oil resources, Tiran Island is not worth exploiting, because there are no rare resources here.
This small island, with an area of only 80 square kilometers, is actually a desert island.
The whole island is deserted, and at first glance it is basically a desolate desert, which is actually completely different from what we know about the island.
You know, an island should at least have very rich water resources, after all, all around it is "water", which has nothing to do with drought and desolation.
However, Tiran Island is such an exception, and this is actually due to its geographical location.
You know, Tiran Island is located in the Middle East, you don't have to think about it, the climate here must be very hot, it is estimated that even precipitation is a problem every year, which is actually similar to the natural climate of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The videos we usually see in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are basically deserts except for deserts, and the situation on Tiran Island is actually the same as these two countries.
But the difference is that there are no inhabitants on Tiran Island, not even any green plants can be seen, and it can even be said that on this island, in addition to the endless loess, there is gravel and rocks, and it is not too much to describe it as "deserted".
It stands to reason that such a desert island is actually not necessary to be used, but the people of Tiran Island will find a location.
Although it is said to be between these two countries, it is actually located at the southern outlet of the Gulf of Aqaba at the back of the Red Sea, which is considered to be the boundary between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
In other words, this position directly guards the access route between the two seas.
Add to that the fact that it is an important outlet to the sea for Israel and southern Palestine, and if they want to transport goods out, they have to pass through it.
The Red Sea is the only way for Asia to Europe, and it is one of the international oil transportation routes.
If any country controls Tiran, it is equivalent to controlling many countries around it.
Because of this, Tiran Island is also a battleground for ancient soldiers.
But what I never expected was that a small island with such a superior geographical location would become a "hot potato", and no country wanted it, so what is going on?
Why has it become a hot potato?
In fact, on the issue of the small island of Tiran, Britain actually played its "-stirring stick" ability.
Historically, Britain was known as the "empire on which the sun never sets", and in the eighteenth century, it was a time when they were in full bloom in the world.
At that time, Britain had their own colonies all over the world, whether it was trade in the Persian Gulf region or other places, it was basically in British hands.
At that time, Tiran Island was actually the territory of the Ottoman Empire, but with the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Empire also disappeared in this war, and its territory was divided among various countries, and Tiran Island became a British colony.
As a result of a major war, Britain became much less powerful than before.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Egypt chose independence, but the sovereignty of Tiran remained in British hands.
In 1932, Saudi Arabia was officially established, but the country's location is actually very delicate, just across the island of Tiran from Egypt.
This is actually very embarrassing, because the ownership of Tiran Island is very difficult to divide, and both countries want to fight for the island.
At this time, the British stirring stick once again played their role and directly gave the ownership of Tiran Island, which was originally in their hands, to Saudi Arabia.
And this act of Britain is tantamount to putting the northeastern route of Egypt directly into the hands of Saudi Arabia.
Then Egypt must not be willing, so the two countries began to fight for the ownership of Tiran Island.
However, what they didn't expect was that when the sandpiper and clam were fighting, the appearance of Israel upset the balance.
Final ownership
The birth of Israel has a lot to do with the United States, and they can be regarded as gradually developing with the support of the United States.
In fact, this country does not get along very well with its neighbors, and often provokes various wars from time to time, which makes the surrounding people panic, and the nearby countries are also terrified.
As a result, Israel has the title of "Little Overlord of the Middle East", and when it continues to expand abroad, Tiran Island has become their next target, and they have also joined the battle for Tiran Island.
You know, before that, in fact, Israeli ships were not allowed to pass through Tiran Island and the Suez Canal, which made the economic development of their entire country very restricted.
In this case, Israel naturally will not sit idly by, and they directly take the initiative and take the right to pass their ships on Tiran Island.
In fact, this shows that Tiran Island has become Israel's possession.
In fact, at this time, Saudi Arabia was also somewhat self-aware, knowing that it could not defeat Israel, so it decided to return the ownership of Tiran Island to Egypt.
Although Egypt knew the careful thinking of Saudi Arabia at that time, they thought that their strength could fully resist the Israeli invasion, so they gladly accepted the gift package returned by Saudi Arabia.
But it turns out that Egypt overestimated itself and underestimated its enemies.
Knowing that Egypt had taken control of the island of Tiran, Israel went on the offensive and began to carry out air strikes on the nearby countries.
For a time, the whole country suffered heavy casualties, and Egypt regretted taking this hot potato, so it thought about returning Tiran Island to Saudi Arabia, so as to avoid this war.
But at this time, Saudi Arabia, which was living smoothly with oil, did not want to take over Tiran Island at all, after all, Egypt was a lesson from the past.
In 1978, Egypt and Israel, led by the United States, signed the Camp David Accords.
In this agreement, they provided for Egypt's continued control of the island of Tiran, provided that Israeli ships could pass through it at all times.
However, after the signing of this agreement, the war between the two countries can be considered stable.
But after that, seeing that the relationship between the two sides had stabilized, the Saudis began to play the idea of Tiran Island again.
At this time, in fact, Egypt also had the intention to hand over this island, after all, their country had already experienced so many wars, and they did not have the energy to go to war again.
In 2017, Egypt formally voted on the ownership of Tiran Island and approved by a majority the agreement to return Jaang Tiran Island to Saudi Arabia.
After that, after decades of disputes on Tiran Island, it can be regarded as an end.
Information sources:
Global Network 2016-04-13Report on "Island for Aid - Intimacy and Rift between Egypt and Saudi Arabia".