Iran Tracker

Reaction to June 2009 Iranian Presidential Election:

Following the 2009 Iranian presidential elections, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election, the Jordanian government remained silent, neither offering a message congratulating Ahmadinejad nor criticizing Iran."[1]

Nuclear:

Jordanian officials began speaking publicly against the Iranian nuclear program in 2006. In March of that year, Jordanian and Pakistani diplomats issued a joint statement from Amman calling for peaceful dialogue to confront the Iranian nuclear “crisis.”[2] In May 2006, Jordanian diplomats voiced their hopes for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.[3]

In 2007, in response to a question regarding the Iranian nuclear program, Jordanian King Abdullah II noted his government’s goal of attaining peaceful nuclear capabilities by 2015.[4] In an interview in November 2007 with Germany’s Der Spiegel, King Abdullah suggested that Iran’s program may be intended to serve more than strictly peaceful aims and said that absolute transparency is necessary for the safety of the Middle East as a whole.[5] Since then, Jordan has signed a 2008 agreement with China for uranium exploration and mining cooperation and a 2009 deal to build four new nuclear reactors over a ten year period.[6]

King Abdullah met with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Amman in November 2009. During the meeting, Abdullah called for dialogue to resolve international disputes over Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the United States should help lead the way in peaceful negotiations.[7] Later, in a February 2010 interview with CNN, Abdullah suggested that the key to defusing the standoff with Iran is to find a solution to issues relating to Israel. The Jordanian king claimed that “if we solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem, why would Iran want to spend so much money on a nuclear program? It makes no sense.”[8]

 In March 2010, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh discussed the status of Iran’s nuclear program with his Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos. Speaking at a joint press conference held in Amman, Judeh stressed that “interaction with Iran's nuclear case should be made through peaceful and diplomatic solutions." The Jordanian minister indicated that a balance must be struck between "remove[ing] concerns of the international community and, on the other hand, maintain[ing] the other countries' right to use peaceful nuclear energy."[9]

Economic Relationship:

Economic relations between Jordan and Iran suffered following the Iranian Islamic Revolution and subsequent Iran-Iraq war.[10]  Ties began to improve in January 1998 when ministers of the two countries met to discuss bilateral trade and agricultural agreements geared toward the exchange of knowledge and equipment between Iran and Jordan.[11] In December of that year, Jordanian Industry and Trade Minister Mohammed Saleh Hourani and Iranian Industry Minister Golam Rida Shafei signed three agreements and several memoranda of understanding in an effort to increase bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture, transport, telecommunications, culture, tourism, and energy.[12] 

Diplomatic/Military Relationship:

Iran and Jordan severed relations following the outbreak of the 1980 Iraq-Iran war, in which Jordan supported its Arab neighbor. Relations between Amman and Tehran tentatively resumed in 1991, though Jordan and Iran have often espoused opposing viewpoints on several important regional issues, including the Arab-Israeli peace process and the ownership dispute between Iran and the UAE over three Gulf islands.[13] Despite these differences, Jordan’s King Abdullah II met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in September 2003 to discuss issues related to Palestine and Iraq. The September meeting marked the first visit to the Iranian capital by a Jordanian head of state since the Islamic Revolution. While in Tehran, Abdullah expressed his interest in coordination and consultations between Jordan and Iran, saying that the two countries could be instrumental in maintaining region peace.[14]

Although the two sides have taken steps to rekindle relations, bilateral ties have been negatively influenced by regional security issues, limiting the capacity for rapprochement. In May 2006, King Abdullah met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to discuss Iran’s hostility toward Israel and its support of Palestinian militant groups.[15] Abdullah cited Iran’s encouragement of such groups as detrimental to the on-going peace process and was especially concerned by reports of Hamas plots to stage attacks on Israel from Jordanian soil using rocket launchers supplied by Iran.[16] That same month, Jordanian Speaker of Parliament Abdel Hadi Majali accused Iran of threatening Jordanian security through its continued support of Hamas and Iran’s controversial nuclear program.[17]

During a November 2009 meeting with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), King Abdullah stated that Jordan did not condone any anti-Iran measure, saying instead that dialogue was necessary to normalize diplomatic relations with Iran. [18]

Jordan has repeatedly stressed that the Palestinian issue is a critical component in resolving the West’s dispute with Iran. In October 2009, King Abdullah claimed that that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not the Iranian nuclear program, was the most important regional security issue and should take precedence in Middle East negotiations.[19] The Jordanian king reaffirmed this position in an April 2010 interview with the Wall Street Journal, during which Abdullah suggested that the key to dealing with Iranian interventionism in the region—namely support for Hezbollah and Hamas—is to solve the long-running conflict between the Palestinians and Israel. Abdullah explained that “the platform [Iran] use[s] is the injustice of the Palestinians and Jerusalem” and, should the issue be resolved, Iran’s ability to influence regional affairs via anti-Israeli sentiment “diminishes or becomes non-existent…by dealing with the core issue, that's when you start taking cards away from the Iranian regime."[20]     

Amman has also taken a dim view of non-diplomatic option for curtailing Iran’s enrichment program. During a November 2009 meeting with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, King Abdullah stated that Jordan does not condone any anti-Iran measure, saying instead that dialogue was necessary to normalize diplomatic relations with Iran. [21] During his April 2010 Wall Street Journal interview, Abdullah further excluded the possibility of military action as an effective tool in dealing with Iran, calling such measures “a Pandora's box.” [22]    

Jordanian intelligence officials have connected the January 2010 assassination of physics professor Massoud Ali Mohammad in Tehran with a failed bombing of an Israeli delegation in Amman. Jordan’s General Intelligence Department announced that it believed that al-Qaeda supporters, financed by Iran, were responsible for the unsuccessful bomb attack on the Israeli envoy.[23] No one was injured during the incident and a Jordanian taxi driver was arrested in connection with the attack. Jordanian intelligence concluded that the explosion was retaliation for a Tehran bomb attack that Iran had blamed on the US and Israel.[24]

In late January 2010, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki appointed his special aide in strategic planning, Mostafa Moslehzade, as Tehran’s new ambassador to Jordan.[25]