AMMAN, Jordan — Many Jordanians would disagree with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi’s description that bilateral relations between Amman and Tehran are “at their best.” The Iranian official paid a rare visit to the Jordanian capital on Tuesday, May 7, where he met with King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
Jordan’s official news agency disclosed little details about Salehi’s meeting with the king. In a brief news release, it said the situation in the Middle East — especially the latest developments in Syria — efforts to secure peace in the region and bilateral relations were discussed during the meeting.
But earlier, in a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Salehi warned that repercussions of the Syrian conflict will impact the entire region. Both sides called for dialogue between the Syrian regime and the opposition groups to end the conflict. Salehi said talks must not involve the jihadist group known as Jabhat al-Nusra. “We have called for talks between the Syrian government and the peaceful opposition to form a transitional government,” Salehi said, a position that Jordan apparently supports. Both countries warned against outside interference in the Syrian conflict.
On the issue of Syrian refugees, Salehi said that Tehran was willing to help Jordan meet some of its financial obligations to about half a million refugees on Jordanian soil. But Salehi, who spoke in fluent Arabic, said, “If there is any vacuum in Syria, these negative consequences will affect all countries. … No one knows what will happen.” On this point, he seemed to agree with the official Jordanian point of view that a peaceful, transitional solution will have to be reached in Syria.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
