As Israel continues to brace for the threat of imminent attack from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, security experts have warned that Tehran is targeting Jordan as its next big “terror front.”
“Jordan is the last holdout,” Behnam Ben Taleb, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital. “It’s the last bastion of pro-Western or pro-status quo in the heartland of the northern Middle East.”
Security experts say Iran’s influence and support for proxy fighters is growing across the Arabian peninsula, including in Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Yemen and Oman, where anti-Israel sentiment is on the rise.
Houthi fighters march on the outskirts of Sanaa on January 22, 2024, during a rally calling for support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and opposition to the US attack on Yemen. (AP Photo)
“The Jordanian regime is increasingly benefiting from growing anti-Israel sentiment, creating instability in the country,” Ben Talebrou said.
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Israel issued the warning on Monday amid growing concerns about how Iran might exploit anti-Israel sentiment in the Middle East. Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel KatzHe said Iran was working to “establish a new eastern terror front against Israel’s major population centers.”
Israeli officials said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were “working with Hamas operatives in Lebanon to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan” in an apparent attempt to destabilize neighboring Israel.
Katz said the smuggled weapons are being transported across Jordan’s western border into the West Bank area known as Judea and Samaria, with a particular focus on refugee camps and with the aim of sowing pro-Iranian sentiment, as has been done in areas such as Gaza and southern Lebanon.
“Iran’s axis of evil now effectively controls the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria through its proxies, leaving the Palestinian Authority powerless to act,” Katz added.
Map showing location of Israel and Palestinian territories. (AP Photo)
The border between Jordan and Israel The Jewish State’s Longest BorderIt reportedly stretches for about 300 miles, from the disputed Golan Heights in the north through the Palestinian-controlled West Bank and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.
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Katz’s warning comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are at a historic peak, but local reports say Iranian-led smuggling operations have plagued Jordanian security for years.
Over the past five years, the Jordanian regime has focused on disrupting smuggling activities to prevent the formation of anti-Israel terrorist cells in the West Bank.
Hundreds of people gathered to listen to a speech by Hezbollah Chairman Hassan Nasrallah projected on a screen on November 3, 2023 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hussam Shubaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“in the end [that would] “This would be to the Islamic Republic’s advantage, because it could completely encircle Israel,” Ben Taleblu said. “The obstacle to all this is the strength of the Jordanian royal family and the Jordanian security forces.”
Jordanian officials have met with U.S., Israeli and Iranian officials in recent weeks in an effort to ease regional tensions after Iran threatened to launch a direct attack on the country.
Jordan seeks to maintain the status quo in the region and prevent all-out war, but has also warned that it will not become a battlefield for any country.
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A soldier attaches an Israeli flag to an armored personnel carrier near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on April 15, 2024.
“We will not become a battlefield for Iran or Israel. We have told Iran and Israel that we will not allow them to violate our airspace and endanger the safety of our people,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in an interview on Saturday. Reuters report.
“We will intercept anything that passes through our airspace or that we believe poses a threat to our country or our people,” he added.
