Jordan is Caught Between Iran and Israel

 By Henry Srebrnik, Saint John Telegraph-Journal

The war against Iran launched by Israel and the United States on February 28 placed Jordan, geographically, militarily and politically, in the firing line, a precarious position for this relatively weak state.

The war came in the midst of a severe crisis in Israeli-Jordanian their relations. Since October 7, 2023, the leaders of the two countries have neither met nor spoken publicly, and the level of relations was downgraded; joint infrastructure projects discussed before the war were frozen.

This state of affairs reflects the anti-Israeli sentiment prevalent among parts of the Jordanian public, which has intensified over the past two and a half years against the background of the war in Gaza. However, despite the rupture between the leaders of the two countries, military coordination between the Israeli and the Jordanian armed forces has continued.

Jordan has not allowed its airspace to be used against Israel, helped keep threats away from the countries’ long-shared border, and enabled travelers from Israel to use Jordanian airports. This conduct has not been easy, in the context of the kingdom’s struggle against Islamist elements seeking to draw Jordan into the “ring of fire” of the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance.

Jordan has refrained from condemning the Israeli-American attack on Iran despite pressure to do so from the Islamic Action Front, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in the Jordanian parliament. In this regard, a historic decision was made in April 2025 to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood itself because of its involvement in terrorism and its challenge to the state’s monopoly on the use of force.

During the June 2025 twelve-day war, Iranian missiles and drones on their way to Israel were intercepted over Jordanian territory. In the current conflict, about half of the attacks have been directed at Jordan itself and were carried out with the involvement of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.

The 2026 war has led Jordan to adopt a declared policy of “positive neutrality,” namely, intercepting Iranian missiles in its sovereign airspace on their way to Israel and actively defending its territory against direct attacks, while also declaring that it is not a party to the conflict and calling for de-escalation and a diplomatic settlement.

Despite Iran’s hostile activity, Jordan’s public position has remained measured and ambivalent: on the one hand, it condemned the Iranian attacks against it and against the Arab Gulf states and made clear to Tehran that harm to the security of the kingdom and its citizens constitutes a “red line.”

On the other hand, it declared that it is not a party to the conflict and was careful not to express support for overthrowing the Iranian regime. In conversations King Abdullah held with dozens of world leaders, foremost among them U.S. President Donald Trump, he indicated the need for dialogue and diplomacy in order to halt the escalation, resolve the crisis, and achieve comprehensive calm.

Overall, Jordanians view their country’s alliances as anchored primarily in the Arab world,

particularly with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, while also recognizing the United States as a central

external partner. The fact that Palestine features so prominently underlines how closely public

perceptions of Jordan’s alliances are bound up with the ongoing conflict and its wider regional

implications.

The troubled relationship between Jordan and Iran has historical roots stretching back decades and is unrelated to Israel. In the 1980s, King Hussein supported Iraq in its war against Iran. In 2004, his successor King Abdullah coined the term “Shiite Crescent” to warn of expanding Iranian influence in the Middle East. Iran’s involvement in Syria and Iraq, both of which border Jordan, has confronted the kingdom with direct threats, including border infiltration, terrorism, and the smuggling of weapons and drugs. In addition, King Abdullah has for years urged the United States to adopt a hard line toward Iran. In 2015, he expressed reservations about the nuclear agreement with Iran advanced by President Barack Obama, although he refrained from criticizing it publicly.

Iran’s attacks have placed Jordan’s leadership in an uncomfortable light, and Amman’s frustration with Iran has only deepened. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires for a reprimand on March 1, protesting Tehran’s “flagrant violation” of Jordan’s sovereignty and an “unacceptable escalation that threatens civilian safety.” On March 18, Jordan complained that Iran had fired over 200 missiles and drones at the Hashemite Kingdom. King Abdullah declined to critique the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Although many Jordanians view Iran as a negative factor undermining the region’s stability, they are more antagonistic toward Israel, which they still view as a greater danger to their country’s sovereignty than Iran. They doubt that the war can achieve one of its principal objectives of creating conditions for regime change in Iran and consider the American-Israeli plan to overthrow the regime as unclear and resting on wishful thinking. Under these uncertain conditions, an explicit Jordanian alignment against Iran could prove a dangerous gamble.

In any case, even as Jordan rebuked Iran for its attacks, few believe that the conflict will lead Jordan to boost relations with Israel. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the Jewish state for its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon and its policy toward Jerusalem’s holy sites. Amman’s policies for the foreseeable future remain unlikely to change.