Senior Jordanian military officials traditionally keep a low public profile and almost never make political statements or give in-depth military assessments of local or regional issues, especially to the media. So it was unusual, and unexpected, for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs­ of­ Staff, Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat, to give an exclusive 16-minute interview to BBC Arabic Dec. 30. The precedent was a remarkable incident in itself, but it was the content of the rare interview that raised eyebrows in Amman and prompted local commentators to speculate about the purpose and meaning of Freihat’s statements.

The interview came in the wake of the terrorist attack in the southern city of Karak Dec. 18, resulting in 10 civilian and security deaths, and public complaints that the government had failed to provide consistent information about the home-grown terror cell that was uncovered by accident. The interview was also released following the fall of eastern Aleppo in Syria Dec. 16, and the evacuation of rebel fighters there to their stronghold in Idlib.

Some of the points that Freihat had made in the interview are listed below:

• The Karak terror cell had a large cache of arms and explosives, and it was probably planning for a major attack against civilian or military targets during Christmas celebrations in the kingdom.
• Jordan is worried about the existence of Islamic State (IS) sleeper cells in two refugee camps near the Jordanian border with Syria, and is trying to relocate them further away from the border.
• The number of Jordanians fighting with IS and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) is limited and may not exceed 300 members.
• Jordan remains an active member of the international coalition fighting IS and continues to carry out air sorties, and there are military coordination cells with Syria and Iraq.
• Jordan is concerned about the so-called Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army, which has pledged allegiance to IS, and which is located in the Yarmouk River basin and in some areas that are only 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) from the Jordanian border. It has heavy weapons including tanks and anti-aircraft guns and is a clear and present danger for Jordan.
• Jordan has trained some elements in the Syrian opposition, namely the Tribes Army (made up of local tribes in the southern Syrian Badia region bordering the kingdom and part of the New Syria Army), to fight IS terrorists and not the Syrian regime; Jordan is coordinating with some elements in the Syrian opposition.
• Jordan cannot open its borders with Syria because there are no regular Syrian regime troops on the other side, and also because the road to Damascus is not safe. But these borders will open once the Syrian army takes control of the border crossings.
• Jordan continues to maintain diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime, and liaison officers on both sides remain in touch.
• The most probable military scenario for the Syrian regime following the fall of eastern Aleppo is to focus its efforts on the south, including Wadi Barada and eastern Ghouta all the way to Daraa (on the Jordanian border).
• There are worries that once IS loses Mosul, it will head toward Raqqa and from there to southern Syria and the Jordanian border.
• Jordan is concerned about the behavior of the Popular Mobilization Units (the Iran-backed, Shiite-led militias in Iraq) and their advance toward Tal Afar (on the border with Syria), and from there into the heart of Syrian territory and all the way to Lebanon.

No Jordanian official, except for King Abdullah, has ever made such a detailed assessment of the military and geopolitical situation in light of what is happening in Syria and Iraq. Freihat’s revelations raised questions about the timing of these statements and whether they were intended to deliver political messages to the Syrian regime.