In the popular movie " Wolf Warrior ", there is such a sentence that has been engraved in the hearts of every Chinese son and daughter: "Anyone who offends our country will be punished no matter how far away he is!"
National territorial security has always been the unshakable bottom line of a sovereign country. However, in the Middle East, there is an island covering an area of 800,000 acres. has been "mutually humiliated" by the two countries for 66 years, and neither country dared to include it in the country. sphere of influence .
1. Strategic Island
This island is called Tiran Island, located between Egypt and Saudi Arabia .
Tiran Island is extremely arid, and most of the area is an inhabited desert. It is neither suitable for farming, nor has special oil and mineral resources. Therefore, from the perspective of soil conditions alone, Tiran Island is really not up for grabs. Value, but such a small island lies directly above the Red Sea.
The Red Sea, located between northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula , is the world's most important oil transportation channel. There is a bay called Aqaba in the north, which is Jordan 's only outlet to the sea, Palestine and later the establishment of the state of Israel, an important sea channel to the sea.
And Tiran Island is located exactly between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.
Such a geographical location is destined to make Tiran Island "unfortunate". The Suez Canal crisis and the third Middle East war that have attracted much attention in modern times were all triggered by Tiran Island.
But the history of Tiran Island was not so bumpy at the beginning.
Before the fall of the Ottoman Empire , Tiran Island was its territory. At that time, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were just members of the unified empire.
Since the Industrial Revolution , imperialism has continued to expand. As the number one power at this time, Britain has been colonizing crazily around the world, and the Suez Canal area between Asia and Africa is naturally coveted by the British Empire.
With the decline of the Ottoman Empire's national power, Britain took the opportunity to take Egypt and the island of Tiran as its own. Soon after, World War broke out.
After the five-year war ended, although Britain won a nominal victory, its domestic economy and military strength were not as good as before, and the crown of the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" gradually became clouded.
As the resistance of the colonized countries intensified, a large number of heroic national armed forces emerged in Egypt to resist the oppression of the British colonists.
In 1922, Egypt declared its independence. On the surface, the United Kingdom generously recognized Egypt's status as an independent and sovereign country. However, in reality, it held the military control of Tiran Island and secretly waited for the right time to stir up the situation in the Middle East .
2. The overlord obstructed
After Egypt became independent, it also communicated with the British about the sovereignty of Tiran Island. However, at that time, the standard followed by the international order was only four words: The law of the jungle .
There is a huge disparity in strength between the two countries. Egypt does not have enough capital to challenge the United Kingdom. Even if it forcibly takes Tiran Island as its own, Egypt may not be able to securely hold on to this piece of fat.
In 1932, the first king of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, unified the Arabian Peninsula after years of war, which dealt an unprecedented blow to British colonial power in the Middle East.
As for Tiran Island, which is located between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, it is crucial to the maritime transportation between the two countries. Under the desire of both Saudi Arabia and Egypt to take it as their own, the British approach It's crucial.
And just as the British calculated when Egypt became independent, since they cannot reap benefits in the Middle East, they might as well detonate the time bomb of Tiran Island. Sure enough, shortly after Saudi Arabia became independent, the British assigned Tiran Island to Saudi Arabia despite Egypt's objections.
If Saudi Arabia controls Tiran Island, the shipping routes in the northeastern region of Egypt will be completely controlled by others, and the sovereignty of the road from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea will also fall into Saudi hands.In the following years, the British got what they wanted, Saudi Arabia and Egypt had several disputes over the Tiran Island issue, and the situation in the Red Sea became increasingly severe.
Although Saudi Arabia has obtained Tiran Island, the British military deployment on Tiran Island has not been completely withdrawn. Everyone knows its ambitions. But just when the British abacus was ringing, an unexpected country was established - Israel.
After World War II , the international situation changed again, and the United States firmly occupied the number one spot in the world with its powerful military power.
In 1947, with the support of the United States, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution allowing the Jewish to establish a state in Palestine, establishing the world's first Jewish state with the holy city of Jerusalem as the center.
On May 14, 1948, Israel officially announced the establishment of , and obtained a legal seat in the United Nations on May 11 of the following year.
Israel is dominated by the Jewish people. Although the total population is less than 10 million as of 2021, the backer behind Israel is the global hegemon, the United States, whose military and economic strength has far exceeded that of the Middle East since its founding. other countries.
Due to different religious beliefs, countries and sects have difficult to reconcile differences in the Middle East. The Middle East is still one of the most turbulent regions in the world.
After the founding of Israel, because Tiran Island is also an important shipping channel for it, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are not as powerful as Israel, recognized the reality overnight and stood on the same front.
3. Mutual humility
Israel is dominated by the Jewish people, while the majority of the countries surrounding it are basically Arab people. Although Jews and Arabs came from the same ancestor thousands of years ago, with the differentiation of Judaism and Islam, the two peoples gradually became hostile.
After World War II alone, there were five major religious wars in the Middle East, and there were countless small-scale conflicts. With the support of the United States, the Jews carved out a narrow strip of land from the Arab territory of Palestine. This was undoubtedly the deepest provocation to the Arab nation. However, under the shock of absolute power, the Arab countries could only swallow their anger.
Israel has a long and narrow border, bordering the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, which is its only access to the sea. If Tiran Island, the key island in the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Red Sea, is controlled by Arab countries, Israel's maritime trade will undoubtedly be severely hit.
Therefore, at the beginning of its founding, Israel adopted a deterrence policy and made all military and economic support from the United States explicit, in order to warn the surrounding Arab countries not to become enemies of itself.
In the subsequent large-scale wars with Arab countries, Israel did achieve the title of "Little Overlord of the Middle East" with its crushing strength.
It took thousands of years for the Jewish people in Israel to have their own land. For the time being, they have no idea of conquering Arab countries in an all-out way. But if the two sides completely go to war, Tiran Island, a former territory of Egypt, is now controlled by Saudi Arabia. Once the war starts, as long as the sea areas around Tiran Island are blocked, Israel’s only sea channel, the Gulf of Aqaba, will be completely blocked. .
Whether it is Saudi Arabia or Egypt, although they once thought that Tiran Island was a piece of cake and they were in contention with each other, once one party swallows Tiran Island alone, it will undoubtedly be regarded as the number one target by Israel.
Therefore, since Israel has gained a foothold, both sides have begun to realize that the Tiran Island problem can be big or small. If it is handled properly, it may be able to taste the sweetness. If it is not handled well, it may lead to shells.
In 1950, Saudi Arabia issued a statement, changing its tough attitude towards Egypt on the Tiran Island issue, claiming that it would return the Tiran Island, which originally belonged to Egypt, to Egypt in accordance with its historical roots.
The additional conditions are also very simple and friendly, that is, Egypt needs to allow Saudi Arabia to invest in and build infrastructure on Tiran Island, and it must not block Tiran Island.
Such a statement is perfect on the surface, but in fact Saudi Arabia is saying to Israel: "The sovereignty of Tiran Island has been Egypt's since ancient times. If you have anything to do, go to Egypt, not me!"
Egypt will naturally not be willing to do so. Accept this hot potato and quickly respond in the name of Britain Saudi Arabia: "When Britain allocated Tiran Island to Saudi Arabia, this island has long been Saudi Arabia's!"
Other countries in the Middle East are jealous when they see Egypt and Saudi Arabia treating Tiran Island like a "football". Despite the geographical location of Tiran Island, no one has even taken a public stand for fear of making Israel and the United States behind it angry.
The ball was kicked until 1978, when the United States finally came forward.
4. The dust has settled
Saudi Arabia and Egypt are "compromising each other" on the sovereignty of Tiran Island. It seems "cowardly", but in fact they are retreating in order to advance.
As soon as the two countries ended their previous antagonistic relationship, they began to communicate frequently using the island of Tiran as a medium. began extensive cooperation in economy, energy, military and other aspects.
Secondly, the two countries were vague and bucking each other over the sovereignty of Tiran Island. Even if Israel wanted to use Tiran Island as an excuse to provoke disputes, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could use the excuse that "the other party is the responsible country" to The war turned into "tripartite talks" and slowly resolved the Tiran Island issue.
In this way, the sovereignty of Tiran Island has been delayed, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia have unanimously adopted a policy of neglect on this matter.
Originally, after Saudi Arabia transferred sovereignty to Egypt, it withdrew its troops stationed on Tiran Island. In the following decades, there were no permanent residents on Tiran Island, and there were only a few Egyptian military posts. and United Nations peacekeeping forces, and these few Egyptian troops are only symbolically stationed.
Israel originally remained patient and circled around with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but the war in the Middle East still broke out, and the trigger was still the ownership of Tiran Island.
Israel targeted Egypt as its main attack target, and launched four wars with neighboring Arab countries that lasted for more than 20 years. In the end, it was only the people of the Middle East who suffered.
In 1978, under the leadership of the United States, Egypt and Israel finally came to the negotiating table and signed the "Camp David Accords" . Egypt, the country of historical origin, holds sovereignty over the island of Tiran, while Israeli ships are at any time It can pass through the waters off Tiran Island, and Egypt must not block it with unreasonable provocations.
Egypt is neither able to resist the United States nor does it want to continue the war with Israel, so signing this agreement can be regarded as each getting what it needs.
However, the current situation is unpredictable, and Egypt does not believe that relying on an agreement can completely cover up the "time bomb" attribute of Tiran Island. Therefore, in the following ten years or so, Egypt did not forcefully declare the sovereignty of Tiran Island, but adopted a "free-range" policy .
After the millennium, the world has entered a new era of building a modern economy, and the main theme of advocating peace and opposing war has become more and more obvious.
Saudi Arabia, which was originally glad that it returned sovereignty over Tiran Island early when Israel attacked Egypt, has begun to be jealous of the peaceful situation near Egypt and Tiran Island.
As Saudi Arabia's rich oil resources gradually increase its influence in the Middle East and even the world, and its oil alliance with the United States becomes increasingly closer, the Saudi Congress began to reorganize the Tiran Island issue.
In 2016, Saudi Arabia, with the permission of the United States, proposed negotiations with Egypt, requiring Egypt to transfer its sovereignty over Tiran Island again.
Saudi Arabia originally thought that Egypt would reject this negotiation, but unexpectedly it developed very smoothly.
On April 9, 2016, the Egyptian Cabinet proposed a resolution to the Egyptian Parliament to transfer Tiran Island and the nearby Sanafir Island to Saudi Arabia. On June 14 of the following year, the Egyptian Parliament passed it by a majority vote and in Egypt The capital Cairo announced the results of the plenary vote.
The reason why Egypt is so "generous" is, first of all, that it does not intend to completely take over the Island of Tiran. Once Israel once again attacks Egypt with the Island of Tiran, Egypt will be unable to resist; secondly, Egypt and Israel are at odds over the Island of Tiran. During the decades of military struggle, Saudi Arabia concentrated on the construction of its oil economy, and its strength had already far surpassed Egypt's .
Tiran Island and Senafir Island are the only two islands on the road from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea. Egypt will transfer them all to Saudi Arabia. Once a war breaks out in the Middle East due to maritime issues, Egypt will have nothing to do with it. Self, remain neutral.
Since Saudi Arabia has taken the initiative to ask Egypt for Tiran Island, it does not want to take advantage of it in vain.
In order to show sincerity, Saudi Arabia has provided Egypt with more than 20 billion US dollars in financial assistance . The two countries have also cooperated more closely in energy, which is undoubtedly more beneficial than harmful to Egypt.
5. Conclusion
From Saudi Arabia’s initiative to return Tiran Island in 1950, to the “mutual humility” between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and then to the Egyptian Parliament’s transfer of Tiran Island again in 2016, the issue of Tiran Island that has been unresolved for 66 years has finally been settled in Egypt , Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States parties were satisfied, and it came to an end.
Egypt was originally the original country of Tiran Island. It was unable to maintain territorial sovereignty despite its weakening strength. The United Kingdom was obstructing it and used Tiran Island as a pawn to disrupt the situation in the Middle East.
After the establishment of the state of Israel, if Egypt and Saudi Arabia can compete with Israel, there is no need to push back and forth, and the issue of the ownership of Tiran Island will become the fuse of the Middle East war .
Those who fall behind will only be beaten. Today, the Middle East is still raging with war. Even if the people long for peace, some hegemonic capital empires will not easily give up the huge profits they made in the war. .
The situation in Tiran Island is now calm, but in a dangerous situation where the global economy is deeply affected by the epidemic and the oil market is increasingly turbulent, no one can make a conclusion whether this "ticking time bomb" will be detonated again in the future!
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