Jordan sharpens focus on IS as Gulf confronts Iran
Jordan may have Iranian fighters on its border but its No. 1 priority is still combating the Islamic State.
Jordan is concerned about the growing Iranian military presence in southern Syria, only a few kilometers from Jordanian border towns, according to local experts and various media reports. On March 16, Free Syrian Army (FSA) officials and Syrian opposition activists said that thousands in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), backed by Hezbollah fighters and Iraqi Shiite militias, were positioned along three border points with Jordan in southern Syria.
The FSA officials estimated the number of Iranian and Shiite fighters at 15,000. The report said that Jordan was coordinating with Syrian rebels in the area. These Jordanian concerns surfaced after revelations that the Damascus regime had launched a military campaign to recover areas under rebel control in Daraa and Quneitra in the south and southwest of the war-torn country.
Other reports said that head of Iran’s Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, had appointed an Iranian military deputy in southern Syria to oversee operations in that area. The presence of Iranian fighters so close to Jordanian towns in the north is a cause of worry for the regime, which has focused its attention on checking the advance of Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition that was formed last year to carry out airstrikes against IS.
Iran’s territorial presence in southern Syria is believed to be the main reason behind a surprise visit that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh paid to Tehran on March 7.
