Wall Street Journal: Tiran and Sanafir islands spark new controversy in Egypt
Discussion is once again escalating in Egypt about the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which caused a major uproar years ago when an agreement was signed to transfer their sovereignty to Saudi Arabia.
The two islands are located at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.
Controversy over the two islands has been reignited by a report alleging that Saudi Arabia has proposed to the United States establishing a military base on the islands as part of Washington’s campaign against the Houthis in Yemen and to secure navigation in the Red Sea, according to the report.
These allegations were met with strong condemnation, with some reminding that the two islands are still effectively under Egyptian administration.
These reports also come as part of a pressure campaign by Washington on Egypt, which began with US President Donald Trump’s request to receive Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in Sinai, then to allow US ships to pass through the Suez Canal free of charge, and his request for Egyptian participation in his campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, which was rejected, according to the Wall Street Journal.
According to a 2017 Egyptian government report, “The Saudi side understood the necessity of maintaining Egyptian administration to protect the islands and the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, and acknowledged in the agreement the continued Egyptian role, out of its belief in Egypt’s vital role in securing navigation in the region”.
The report explained that the agreement only ends the sovereignty aspect, and doesn’t end the justifications and necessities for Egypt’s protection of this region for reasons of Egyptian-Saudi national security at the same time.
The two islands fall within Area C of the peace agreement signed between Egypt and Israel in 1979.
