Jordan walks a tightrope after downing Iranian drones and missiles

(2024-04-17) As the skies over Amman and other Jordanian cities lit up with Jordan’s interception of Iranian drones and missiles headed for Israel last weekend, officials in the country were notably silent for hours.

Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel in retaliation for a suspected April 1 Israeli assault on its diplomatic building in Damascus has put the kingdom in an uneasy and dangerous position.

Jordan’s geography demonstrates its quandary. The small kingdom sits between Israel and the West Bank on one side, and Iran’s neighbor Iraq on the other, where pro-Iran militias reign supreme. To its north lies Syria, a failing state that is also in Iran’s orbit.

Last week’s attack was the first time in more than three decades that missiles directed at Israel entered Jordanian airspace, when Saddam Hussein launched Scud missiles at the Jewish state in 1991 during the Gulf War.

But much has changed since then. Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1994. In the eyes of Israel’s Western allies, it has been vital to regional security. It has close intelligence and security cooperation with Israel, hosts American troops and is reliant on United States military aid.