When Israel and Iran were friends — and built a secret oil pipeline

Key Highlights

• At the same time, sellers of oil such as Iran, too, needed a different route: the Suez Canal remained shut till 1975.
• Around 12% of global trade and 30% of global container traffic goes through the canal, which is the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia.
• The secret pipeline The Suez Canal’s closure led to a joint-venture between Israel and Iran in 1968 that would connect the Red Sea port of Eilat and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon.
• However, Iran and Israel shrouded their involvement through entities based in Liechtenstein and Panama, respectively.
• But the 42-inch-wide and 254-kilometre-long Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline did not evade detection.