Jordan condemned on Sunday the "terrorist attack" on a military advance post just inside its border with Syria that killed three U.S. military members and injured dozens.
Jordan has recently alerted Washington to the urgent need to bolster its defences against Iranian-backed militias © Mena Today
Jordan condemned on Sunday the "terrorist attack" on a military advance post just inside its border with Syria that killed three U.S. military members and injured dozens.
In the first official statement on the attack, staunch U.S. ally Jordan said it was working with Washington to fight terrorism. Earlier, a government spokesperson had said the attack was on a U.S. base in Syria adjacent to the border but not on Jordanian soil.
A senior Jordanian security source told Reuters that Jordan had recently appealed for more advanced U.S. defence hardware and support because of worries Iran and its proxies could become embroiled more deeply in any wider Middle East conflagration.
Jordan has recently alerted Washington to the urgent need to bolster its defences against Iranian-backed militias building up their strength on Jordan's borders with Iraq and Syria, the official said.
There has been growing concern within the Jordanian military and security establishment that Iranian militias who now hold sway in southern Syria were exploiting the Gaza war to achieve a security breakthrough.
Iran's influence in Syria has expanded since Tehran's allies, including Lebanese group Hezbollah, helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad quell a rebellion that erupted in 2011.
Iranian-backed militias hold sway on Syria's southern border with Jordan, and Amman blames them and Iran for running a drug smuggling business.
Some Jordanian officials say that pro-Iranian militias in both Iraq and Syria, which have been escalating attacks on U.S. bases in the area since the Israel-Hamas war, are also using the drug war to pile pressure on Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally that hosts hundreds of U.S. troops.
Jordan had also requested Patriot air defence systems from Washington as part of its growing concern about being caught in the crossfire if the war in Gaza pulls in Iran and its well-armed regional militias on the kingdom's borders.
The presence of U.S. troops in Jordan is a sensitive matter in a country where anti-U.S. sentiment runs high because of Washington's support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
Jordan's government signed a defence deal with the United States in January 2021, offering U.S. forces "unimpeded access" to several Jordanian military facilities, storage sites for pre-positioning equipment, and other installations.
Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi
This week’s joint declaration by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, vowing to prevent attacks on Israel from Lebanese soil and disarm rogue factions operating within Lebanon, may be more than just another political statement.
Amid the rubble left by Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon, campaign posters urge support for Hezbollah in elections on Saturday as the group aims to show it retains political clout despite the pounding it took in last year's war.
Israel's military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen and that sirens had sounded twice across the country including in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday, as the Iran-aligned Houthis stepped up attacks.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.