Ostavi komentar - Why is Iran attacking Jordan? The kingdom at the center of the Middle East conflict

Air raid sirens sounded again in parts of Jordan early Tuesday morning after Iranian missiles were directed toward the country.&quot;The air defense system intercepted and shot down three missiles launched from Iranian territory overnight. The missiles entered Jordanian airspace and were heading toward the kingdom&rsquo;s territory,&quot; the Jordanian military said in a statement.There were no injuries, but the latest attacks followed a series of incidents in recent days that have increased pressure on one of the United States&rsquo; closest Arab allies. Last week, two U.S. soldiers were killed and around 30 American military personnel were wounded in an Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.Jordan is also a target for IranJordan is one of eight Arab countries hosting permanent U.S. military facilities. Some of the other host countries, particularly Gulf states, have been targeted by Iranian attacks since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in late February.Iran soon afterward launched missiles toward Jordan, but a period without direct attacks on the kingdom followed. Meanwhile, Jordan helped intercept Iranian missiles headed toward Israel, arguing that it was acting to protect its own airspace.&quot;Iran reserves the right to retaliate against any country in the region that hosts U.S. military bases or military capabilities on its territory, and Jordan is one of them,&quot; Erwin van Veen, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, told DW.&quot;However, the options available to Jordan&rsquo;s King Abdullah II are very limited because Jordan depends heavily on the United States, both militarily and economically.&quot;On Sunday, in the first major diplomatic escalation, Jordan summoned the Iranian ambassador in Amman and demanded an immediate halt to what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as &quot;unjustified and overt Iranian attacks.&quot;Jordan between politics and the economyThe United States is Jordan&rsquo;s largest single foreign partner. Under a seven-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2022, Washington committed to providing Jordan with $1.45 billion in annual economic and military assistance. In 2025, the U.S. Congress increased that amount to $1.65 billion, which is three times more than in 2010.In addition, a Defense Cooperation Agreement signed in January 2021 gives U.S. forces formal access to Jordanian military facilities. According to a recent report, around 4,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Jordan, more than in previous years.However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi claimed in March that there are no foreign military bases in the country. Kelly Petillo, Middle East and North Africa program manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations, believes that one reason for downplaying the significance of the U.S. military presence is strong public opposition to the United States among parts of the population.&quot;Despite Jordan&rsquo;s efforts to remain neutral in this war, existing alliances, such as the one with the United States, not only affect the country&rsquo;s already fragile security situation but also fuel public dissatisfaction,&quot; she told DW.Safadi estimates that Jordan, like its Gulf allies, is beginning to question whether its alliance with the United States contributes to the country&rsquo;s stability or is, in fact, a source of additional instability.A 2026 survey by the Arab Barometer organization showed that only 12 percent of Jordanians hold a positive view of U.S. President Donald Trump&rsquo;s foreign policy.EPA/ANDRE PAINJordan&ndash;Israel relations&quot;The second risk for Amman is that Iranian attacks could create the perception that Jordan is on the same side as Israel,&quot; warns Kelly Petillo.&quot;Such a perception could further increase public dissatisfaction and trigger new protests, similar to those already seen during the Gaza war, when demonstrators called for the cancellation of the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.&quot;Relations between Israel and Jordan have become increasingly tense in recent years. In November 2023, the two countries recalled their ambassadors after Jordan condemned Israeli military operations in the early days of the Gaza war, which began following Hamas&rsquo;s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and several other countries.Jordan is among the most vocal supporters of a two-state solution, which envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.The Palestinian issue is particularly important for Jordan because more than half of the population, including Queen Rania, has Palestinian origins. According to data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), around 2.4 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan.EPA-EFE/FAROOQ KHANHowever, Jordan has consistently rejected the possibility of a new influx of Palestinians into its territory, particularly because of the high costs of providing assistance to them and the uncertainty over their potential return.&quot;Jordan is already facing a significant reduction in USAID funding, as well as the withdrawal of U.S. support for UNRWA,&quot; Petillo says. All of this, she notes, is happening at a time when the country is still struggling with high public debt and unemployment.Between a rock and a hard placePublic dissatisfaction has been further intensified by the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the United Nations and human rights organizations say have been rapidly growing since 2023. At the same time, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased, further worsening living conditions in the West Bank.According to data from Save the Children, more than 1,000 Palestinian children were displaced in the first six months of 2026 due to increased settler violence in the West Bank. This represents half of the total number of children who were forced to leave their homes because of settler violence over the previous three years.&quot;As stated in the coalition agreement of the current Israeli government from 2022, its ultimate goal is the annexation of the West Bank,&quot; says Erwin van Veen.&quot;Jordan finds itself between a rock and a hard place in every respect. It has very little room for maneuver, both in relation to Israel and to Iran and Washington,&quot; he concludes.The West Bank, a territory of around 5,655 square kilometers located between Israel and Jordan, has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War in 1967. The United Nations Security Council considers that &quot;Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity.&quot;

A new front has opened – are they becoming a key target? The consequences could be enormous

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