Jeddah July 16 2022: US troops who served as peacekeepers on a strategically-located island in the Red Sea will depart as part of an agreement that paves the way for Saudi Arabia to take control and develop it.
The international forces, which include American soldiers, will leave Tiran by the end of the year, the White House said in a statement on Friday. All of the countries involved — including Israel — have agreed on the change, it said.
Egypt agreed to cede sovereignty of Tiran and the neighboring island of Sanafir to Saudi Arabia back in 2017. The two islands are part of Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, however, and required Israel’s approval on security arrangements and guarantees its freedom of navigation would be respected.
Tiran is located between the coastlines of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and was used in previous regional conflicts to block Israel’s access to the Red Sea. International peacekeepers have been deployed there for decades.
“Saudi Arabia has agreed to preserve and continue all existing commitments and procedures in the area,” the White House statement said. Biden welcomed the arrangement, “which was negotiated over many months and fully took into consideration the interests of all parties, including Israel.”
The agreement, though US brokered, is among a number of steps American and Israeli officials have painted as early moves toward potential normalization of ties. Israel and Saudi Arabia have no formal diplomatic relations.
The uninhabited islands are close to Neom, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s $500 billion mega project on the Red Sea. Neom’s executives have said they want to turn the project’s islands into high-end tourist destinations.
