Tiran Strait: why this chokepoint matters, which countries sit on it, and the latest Bureau coverage.
Last updated: October 2026
Bureau read: 4 countries sit on this passage; the highest-scored is Saudi Arabia (72.16/100). A chokepoint is judged by how many navies can hold it — and by the power of those who border it.
The Tiran Strait is the narrow waterway between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is about 13 kilometres wide at its narrowest — and every sailing to Aqaba, Jordan's only seaport, and Eilat, Israel's Red Sea port, passes through it.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel border this passage. The Bureau's page for each country shows its national power score and full profile.
The Tiran Strait is a strategic chokepoint — a narrow passage through which a large share of world trade or energy flows. A blockage or disruption here reroutes shipping, raises freight costs, and ripples into prices worldwide.
Each chokepoint carries a plain risk rating: Critical means the flow is disrupted or under direct threat; Tense means it works but pressure is building; Calm means normal operations. Ratings are reviewed every week.
Limited volumes. The Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline can move oil from Eilat to the Mediterranean, but the Tiran Strait is not a major oil artery — its importance is the Aqaba and Eilat ports, not crude transit.
The Bureau's page does not state a single percentage of global trade for the strait. Global volumes are small; the strait's importance is existential for two ports — Aqaba (Jordan's only seaport) and Eilat (Israel's Red Sea port).
Between the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) and the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia), connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba; about 13 kilometres wide at its narrowest, with the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the strait.
Jordan's only seaport (Aqaba) and Israel's Red Sea port (Eilat) are sealed, forcing all their trade to overland routes. Egypt's 1967 blockade of Tiran was a trigger of the Six-Day War.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Strait of Tiran, Six-Day War origins. Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty (1979) — guarantee of free passage through the Strait of Tiran. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) — transit passage. Observation date: 11 Oct 2026.
