On the night of May 8, the plane carrying Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi landed at the Amman airport to begin a visit that comes at what has been described as "a sensitive time" due to burgeoning developments in Syria and the region.

Opinions were mixed regarding the visit and its outcome. One of the key questions concerned whether or not Salehi succeeded in dissuading Jordan from "falling into the American trap" seeking to turn the country into a platform for military action against Syria, as well as a transfer point for militants and a weapons depot for arms that the US seeks to transfer to the Syrian opposition. The goal is to pressure the Syrian regime to render it sufficiently pliable to accept Washington's terms for the next stage, when Russia and the US will jointly seek ways to apply the "Geneva 2" deal.

According to a well-informed source speaking on condition of anonymity, the meeting between Salehi and the Jordanian monarch was held in a positive atmosphere, in contrast to the preparatory meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. The discussions between the two revealed the existence of severe divisions within the official political decision-making structure in Jordan regarding the position Amman must take toward the complex environment from which the Syrian crisis arose. The king and the military establishment are attempting to develop an approach that will guarantee events in Syria do not undermine the Jordanian regime's future survival or even diminish its power domestically. Meanwhile the prime minister, his foreign minister and a wide swath in the Jordanian parliament that might be characterized as Islamist in character fall in tow with the view of Washington, Qatar, and Turkey toward what Jordan's role in Syrian events ought to be.

The source adds that the message the Salehi bore came from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was directed to the Jordanian king. Attempts to predict the contents of that message have generated widespread speculation. The message was said to have stressed that Iran would continue to stand alongside the Syrian regime, and that Iran would remain committed to everything this position required, chiefly Tehran's insistence that President Bashar al-Assad not be permitted to fall. The message also was said to have warned Jordan against falling into the American trap, and expressed Iran's willingness to support Jordan economically with some means as are at Tehran's disposal in order to confront American and other pressures in this regard.