The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EAPC) serves as a land bridge for transporting crude oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and vice versa. EAPC is the site where Egyptian natural gas enters Israel. The company was established in 1968 as a joint venture with the government of Iran in order to transport oil from Iran to Israel. After the Iranian revolution and the fall of the Shah in 1978, diplomatic relations with Iran were cut off and the government of Israel now controls the company