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 Iran |  Jordan |
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The Islamic Republic of Iran and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan share a long but complicated relationship which has, at times, been tense and unstable. Jordan has an embassy in Tehran. [1]
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Iran | Jordan |
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The Islamic Republic of Iran and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan share a long but complicated relationship which has, at times, been tense and unstable. Jordan has an embassy in Tehran. [1]
While there had been historical contacts between the two nations, for most of Jordanian history, the country fell under various Persian rule which started from the Achaemenid Empire to the Sasanian Empire. Because of this, a lot of Persian cultural heritages and influences can be found in Jordan[ citation needed ]. Both countries later embraced Islam, though Jordan went to become a Sunni country in contrast to the Shi'a-dominated Iran. [2]
Iranian–Jordanian relations under the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran was cordial, being pro-West oriented and hostile against communism. In the 1950s, King Hussein of Jordan inaugurated a Jordanian embassy in Tehran, officially establishing relations with Iran. However, sometimes the relationship was tense, as Iran under Pahlavi dynasty had official relations with Israel, which Jordan did not. Nonetheless, they were able to have a secure and healthy relationship. [3] Hussein also made a number of visits to Iran under Pahlavi. [4]
The outbreak of Iranian Revolution and subsequent establishment of an Islamic regime in Iran changed their relationship drastically from positive to negative. Jordan, along with most of the Arabian states of the Persian gulf, immediately backed Saddam Hussein on the Iran–Iraq War of 1980s. [5] Due to Jordan's support for Iraq, even during the Gulf War, [6] it took a decade before Iran and Jordan could re-normalize their relations.
On 2 and 3 September 2003, King Abdullah II of Jordan visited Tehran, making him the first Jordanian king to visit Tehran since the launching of the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. [7]
Nonetheless, the relation between the two countries remain tense, with Iran seeing Jordan's alliance with the West as a threat, and there being little economic cooperation between the two countries. In 2018, Jordan ruled out economic ties, reasoning that Iran is not a member of the World Trade Organization. [8]
Jordan's relations with Iran became even more complicated as Jordan unofficially came out against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria (an ally of Iran), considering Iranian long-term presence in Syria as a threat to its security. [9] [10] [11] Jordan was also alleged to have been working with Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Israel in an attempt to curb Iranian involvement in Syria. [12]
On July 19, 2021, US president Joe Biden met with Jordanian King Abdullah II and discussed, among other things, the future of the Syrian crisis. In that meeting, King Abdullah suggested Biden cooperate with Russia and the Syrian Government to help stabilize Syria and restore Syrian sovereignty and unity. [13]
During the rule of Saddam Hussein, Jordan maintained a "special status" with Iraq as it relied on Iraqi oil. Iraq also relied on Jordan during this time for use of its ports, as the UN had placed sanctions on Iraq for the invasion of Kuwait.
This support of Baathist Iraq resulted in a complete severance of ties between Jordan and Iran on January 31, 1981, and since then relations have remained fairly hostile, even after the two countries resumed diplomatic ties in 1991. [14]
Another key reason for tensions between Jordan and Iran is Jordan's relationship with Saudi Arabia and Israel.
For many years, Jordan heavily depended on Saudi economic assistance. Jordan also shares similar political structure with Saudi Arabia, both are Arab monarchies and closely tied to the West. Growing Iranian influence brought Jordan and Saudi Arabia closer, with both denouncing Iran together in spite of the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. [15]
Jordan also shares a close tie with Israel, since the Hashemites had unofficial relations with Israel throughout the Cold War until 1994, when the two countries established relations.
The Iranian Government has called for the elimination of Israel and pro-West Arab monarchies, prompting anti-Iranian reactions in both Jordan and Israel. [16]
Some have alleged Saudi Arabian and Israeli involvement in the failed April 2021 coup attempt in Jordan, which has been related to Jordanian unofficial opposition to the 'deal of the century' proposed by the United States as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. [17]
Both Iran and Jordan had called to solve the Qatar crisis diplomatically in hope to limit tensions. Jordan, while still maintaining its diplomatic presence within the country, had limited ties with Qatar, as Jordan is dependent on Gulf economically, especially after the 2018 Jordanian protests. [18] On the other side, Jordan feared the escalation of tensions between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates might give Iran an upper hand. [19]
On 27 June 2021, at a trilateral summit in Baghdad, the Jordanian king announced an agreement with Egypt and Iraq to increase cooperation and trade, including the transport of oil from Iraq through Jordan (and Egypt). [20] This officially became known as the “New Levant Initiative'' (NLI). [21] Following this agreement, Jordanian state media began promoting Iranian-Jordanian cooperation, and suggesting that this deal would increase Jordanian ties with Iran. [22] It was suggested that Iran could build an airport in al-Kerak, and begin the supply of oil to Jordan via Iraq to fulfill Jordan's economic needs. [23] Some Jordanian politicians such as Zaid Nabulsi, a member of the king's advisory board, and Mouafaq Mahadeen, a journalist with close ties to the ruling family, have also began promoting the idea of Iranian religious tourism to the shrine of Jafar ibn Abu Talib in the city of Karak, the home of Jordan's Shiite minority. Jordanian king Abdullah II also visited the site of the shrine in July 2021 in an attempt to promote it. [24] [23]
Iranian intelligence networks in Jordan became more active after the establishment of an Islamic regime in Iran. In 2004, Jordanian King Abdullah II accused Ahmed Chalabi, an Iraqi, of being an Iranian agent conspiring to attack Jordan. [25]
In 2018, a top military commander of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, revealed that Iran had intelligence data about military activity in a number of Arab countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, and threatened to attack if provoked. [26]
The Iranian embassy is located in Amman. [27] [28]
The Jordanian embassy is located in Tehran. [30]
Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia are the diplomatic and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world. The foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is focused on co-operation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab World, Islamic solidarity, and support for the United Nations. In practice, the main concerns in recent years have been relations with the US, the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the perceived threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the effect of oil pricing. Saudi Arabia contributes large amounts of development aid to Muslim countries. From 1986 to 2006, the country donated £49 billion in aid.
The dynamic between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ambivalent, owing to the latter's varying bilateral conduct with each country of the former. Iran is located on the easternmost frontier of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Arab countries and spans the bulk of the Middle East and North Africa, of which Iran is also a part. The Arab League's population is dominated by ethnic Arabs, whereas Iran's population is dominated by ethnic Persians; and while both sides have Islam as a common religion, their sects differ, with Sunnis constituting the majority in the Arab League and Shias constituting the majority in Iran. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country's Shia theocracy has attempted to assert itself as the legitimate religious and political leadership of all Muslims, contesting a status that has generally been understood as belonging to Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. This animosity, manifested in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, has greatly exacerbated the Shia–Sunni divide throughout the Muslim world.
Jordan–Syria relations are bilateral relations between the sovereign states of Jordan and Syria. Relations between neighbours have ancient roots as both countries are historically parts of the Levant or Greater Syria. The two states were created after the First World War from former Ottoman dominions by way of a secret bilateral agreement between Britain and France.
United States foreign policy in the Middle East has its roots in the early 19th-century Tripolitan War that occurred shortly after the 1776 establishment of the United States as an independent sovereign state, but became much more expansive in the aftermath of World War II. With the goal of preventing the Soviet Union from gaining influence in the region during the Cold War, American foreign policy saw the deliverance of extensive support in various forms to anti-communist and anti-Soviet regimes; among the top priorities for the U.S. with regards to this goal was its support for the State of Israel against its Soviet-backed neighbouring Arab countries during the peak of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The U.S. also came to replace the United Kingdom as the main security patron for Saudi Arabia as well as the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the 1960s and 1970s in order to ensure, among other goals, a stable flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. As of 2023, the U.S. has diplomatic relations with every country in the Middle East except for Iran, with whom relations were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Syria, with whom relations were suspended in 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
Iraq–Saudi relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between the Republic of Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both sovereign states share the Iraq–Saudi Arabia border.
Bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been strained over several geopolitical issues, such as aspirations for regional leadership, oil export policy and relations with the United States and other Western countries. Diplomatic relations were suspended from 1987 to 1990, and in 2016 for seven years following certain issues like the intervention in Yemen, Iran embassy bombing in Yemen, incidents in 2015 Hajj, the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, the attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. However, in March 2023, after discussions brokered by China, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish relations.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey relations have long fluctuated between cooperation and alliance to enmity and distrust. Since the 19th century, the two nations have always had a complicated relationship. While Turkey and Saudi Arabia are major economic partners, the two have a tense political relationship, deemed from the historic enmity.
Israel–Jordan relations are the diplomatic, economic and cultural relations between Israel and Jordan. The two countries share a land border, with three border crossings: Yitzhak Rabin/Wadi Araba Crossing, Jordan River Crossing and the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge Crossing, that connects the West Bank with Jordan. The relationship between the two countries is regulated by the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994, which formally ended the state of war that had existed between the two countries since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and also established diplomatic relations, besides other matters. Relations between the countries get strained from time to time, usually over tensions at the Al-Aqsa mosque. On 8 October 2020, Israel and Jordan reached an agreement to allow flights to cross over both countries’ airspace.
Iran and Yemen have had cordial, if tepid, relations since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Ties between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Aden, however, have been damaged in recent years by Iran's support for the rival Yemeni government in Sanaa linked to the Houthi movement. Since 2019, Iran has recognized the Supreme Political Council as the sole legitimate government of Yemen.
Historically, relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could be considered as extending several centuries back to the relations between earlier regimes in Egypt – the highly autonomous Egypt Eyalet in the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt – and the earlier manifestations of Saudi/Wahhabi power in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are both highly influential countries in the Arab world. Egypt is the most populous Arab country, and Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20. According to a 2013 Pew global opinion poll, 78% of Egyptians express a favourable view of Saudi Arabia, and 19% express an unfavourable view.
The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iranian-led political and military coalition in West Asia and North Africa. It most notably includes the Syrian government, the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah, the Yemeni political and military organization Ansar Allah, and a variety of Palestinian militant groups.
The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, also known as the Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War, is an ongoing proxy conflict between Iran and Israel. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas. Israel has supported Iranian rebels, such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2018 Israeli forces directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria.
Saudi Arabia–Syria relations refer to bilateral and economic relations between Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab Republic. Diplomatic ties between these two countries of the Middle East have long been strained by the major events in the region. Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Damascus, and Syria has an embassy in Riyadh. Both countries are members of the Arab League and share close cultural ties.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is an Iranian politician, diplomat and current foreign minister of Iran. He was formerly the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs from 2011 to 2016.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.
Iran–Qatar relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Qatar. Iran has an embassy in Doha while Qatar has an embassy in Tehran. Qatar and Iran have close ties.
The Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict refers to the ongoing struggle for regional influence between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), both of which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is sometimes called the New Arab Cold War. Bilateral relations have been especially strained since the beginning of the Arab Spring, that left a power vacuum both states sought to fill, with Qatar being supportive of the revolutionary wave and Saudi Arabia opposing it. Both states are allies of the United States, and have avoided direct conflict with one another.
Jordan and Morocco share a close relationship as both Jordan and Morocco are Arab countries. Both Jordan and Morocco share common royal relationship, Jordan is led by the Hashemites and Morocco is led by the Alaouites; and are perceived among the most liberal Kingdoms in the MENA. Jordan has an embassy in Rabat and Morocco has an embassy in Amman.
Jordan–United Kingdom relations, or Anglo-Jordanian relations, refers to the relationship between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Both countries share a relatively close relationship because of the Hashemites, who received British help to overthrow Ottoman rule in the country during World War I.
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