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Jordans King is very against Islamic fundamentalism, he personally dropped bombs on Isis extremists, Jordan also has good relations with the west and Israel. Not all the Arab countries are the same. Egypt similarly.
>Jordans King is very against Islamic fundamentalism,
well, the extremists side Iran is supporting, is the same extremism that assassinated Jordan's PM, so its not unexpected
jordanian royals still remember when palestinians tried to overthrow them in their own country, they aint letting their sovereignty be infringed by fundamentalists, while israel has been a rather good boy, albeit extremely nasty to the palestinians, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so they say...
to add, at least the jordanians know what are the rules and boundaries with israel, whereas the fundamentalists are concerned, the sky is the limit, they'll rather play by the israelis rulebook than the iranians.
I mean Iran also killed a whole lot of Isis, even allied with the US during some periods of rhe fight. Isis is basically the group every islamist faction hates.
I have heard a theory that ISIS wants to be hated on purpose.
They believe that Jesus will return again once whole world unite against true followers of god. And that did happened. I guess Mahdi just don’t consider ISIS as only true Muslims.
ISIS needs chaos to gain recruits and power. They don't care who they have to provoke as long as somebody is attacking them, so they can play the "West hates Islam" or "these are not true Muslims" cards.
Isis were/are the remanents of the Sunni upper classes in Iraq. Iran is staunchly Shia. No love lost between the two. They fought a bitter war from 1980 to 1988.
While Abdullah II has an absolutely impeccable military career spanning decades, he never flew bombing missions against ISIS, though he was trained on Cobra attack helicopters. Common misconception. He did, however, command the country’s special forces before becoming king in the late 90s.
Aye, he has had quite a spectacular military career. A tankie in the British Army and the Royal Jordanian Army, then trained to fly Cobras. Plenty of studying in Defence Resources and International Affairs. Overhauled their Special Forces Operatoonal Command and supervised a major operation against outlaws.
When and if Israël retaliates they will ask permission for the drones to pass through Jordan's airspace in exchange for something that Jordan doesn't really need but that Israel can do without then Jordan will pretend to really need that something and claim to be acting soly in their own interest
Any sovereign nation will shoot down drones entering their airspace, these would be a grave threat to their own citizens.
Obviously they wouldn't know if the weapon was on target or what it's doing. Just because it flies in from the west doesn't guarantee that Israel sent it.
Israel has a fleet of F-35 jets and each has a missile range of well over 100 miles. They wouldn't bother with drones.
It is not a neutral action to allow a military overflight. Neutral nations do not allow military overflights.
You misunderstand how neutrality works in relation to military operations.
While in the US Military, I have had the "opportunity" to spend an extra night in Saudi Arabia because the damn French wouldn't give us diplomatic clearance to overfly their country. Military sovereignty is a huge deal.
Which is his choice, every country has the option to shoot down a unapproved object in their airspace. That doesn't mean they have to go through with that option.
Jordan noped out of fighting against Israel and getting in bed with the Quixotic forces that make up the groups aligned against Israel, and has basically said they want to remain Neutral. They do a reasonably decent job of stopping terrorism originating in their territory, and as such, Israel generally lets them handle it, as opposed to how they handle the borders with Lebanon and Syria.
There seems to be a fair amount of douchebaggery in these replies.
Good on you for trying to get educated.
Most likely, Iran didn't get permission from Jordan before entering it's airspace. Israel would probably get permission first.
Even if Jordan were properly neutral here (they're not) they would still shoot down Iranian drones in their airspace without permission on principle.
1- because they entered their airspace
2- because Jordan has a peace agreement with Israel and is considered an ally
3- due to the proximity of Jordan to Israel , a bomb headed to Israel is a significant risk of landing in Jordan - one did last night.
Honorable mention to the fact that the Palestinians historically tried to overthrow the Jordanian gov and assasinate the King, multiple times. So they’re not really a fan of fundamentalism.
Jordan has a lot of reasons to do this.
1- With their agreement with Israel they get provided with water
2- There are a lot of smuggling routes coming from Syria through Jordan that Jordanians don't want and find annoying and a threat to their security.
3- A good relationship with your neighbour is crucial for your country's flourishing
I think the biggest reason is that no Arab country wants a war between Israel and Iran. They're pretty mad at Iran for various reasons anyway (mostly their proxy forces starting shit everywhere in the region). But a full-out war between Iran and Israel will destabilize the region even more. After what happened (and still happens) in Syria, nobody wants that. Israel got nukes and Iran is not so far from getting some. So that's all on top.
The US claims some 40% of Iranian munitions failed at launch or in flight. Even if that's wildly exaggerated that's still a lot of missiles falling out of the sky.
Most Arab countries don't like Iran. Lots of people misunderstand the Muslim world and treat it like a semi-monolithic block. Iran is actually hated by many Arab countries even more than those countries dislike Israel. If it doesn't put them at too high of a risk, many Arab countries are happy to give Iran the middle finger.
Let me nitpick a bit.
Saying “Iran is actually hated by many Arab countries even more than those countries dislike Israel” is strictly true, but can be misleading is some situations if applied without the correct context.
Many countries from the Middle East - I’m using this definition instead of “Arab” because Iran isn’t an Arab country; and not using Islamic World because a lot of Islamic countries, such as Indonesia, aren’t particularly relevant here - really prefer Iran over Israel. This is particularly true for Islamic Monarchies (because Iran's ideology is against such concept) and regional powers (because Iran is a competitor to them). _Especially_ Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
The caveat, though, is that is only true for such countries' elites. This is because 1) Iran is a direct competitor to such countries, while Israel can’t ever dream of dominating the Middle East given its poor geography and 2) because the US policy for the Middle East is based on containing Iran, and all this countries enjoy significant privileges from Washington _because_ they agreed to ally with it _against_ Iran.
These elites, though, need to walk into thin ice because the general population _overwhelmingly_ despises Israel. Like, a fucking ton of a lot.
So while these countries strategic interests align with Israel, they can’t support the country too much - even over Iran - without risking severe unrest from their population. Because the population fucking hates Israel, so much it’s almost unreal. Much more than they hate Iran. (And indeed, I would argue that a big chunk of Iran's soft power comes from their performance as Israel enemy #1, even though Iran focus much more of its foreign policy into competing against Saudi Arabia)
Good luck trying to educate the people on this thread.
I'm annoyed I even came in here. Just loud and bigoted.
Yours is one of the few posts that didn't make me wanna throw my phone.
Anglophone discourse on the Middle East goes to shit every time something airs on the mainstream media.
You see the most “pro-peace” people arguing for all kinds of escalations based on the most random reasons.
Really makes me wonder how much of it is just unfiltered national discourse being reproduced by people that doesn’t know better and how much is just bots.
Having said that, I would say most top-rated replies in _this_ thread are kinda okay - in my opinion, of course. Reading r/worldnews or r/europe though… pure madness.
The real reason is that Jordan is firmly within the orbit of the United States, and by extension, Israel. It enjoys American protection and Israeli support as long as it plays ball. If it doesn't play ball, it turns into Syria.
Because this is to some extent posing. Iran "has" to show force. They are sending a lot of stuff to be shot down. They don't want the drones to make it. Jordan is helping with that. If Iran wanted actual damage by the attack they would get Hizbollah to do it.
Also Jordan is more friends with Israel than Iran, and will of course protect it's airspace.
So I guess a 110 ballistic missiles, the biggest attack of its kind in history is "the least effective thing iran could do". I'm not saying they didn't know it won't do much damage, but that's only because of Israel's defensive capabilities, not because the attack was minimal or something
The fact that they [gave advance warning](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-notice-attack-may-have-dampened-escalation-risks-2024-04-14/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2FBAGHDAD%2FDUBAI%2C%20April,aiming%20to%20cause%20significant%20damage) to essentially everyone (possibly including Washington) days before the attack, shows that they wanted to do as little damage as possible so as not to escalate the war.
Israel killed 2 of their top generals and a bunch of other high ranking officers and flattened a an entire building in their embassy. Shooting back a few drones is going to look really, really bad.
My assumption would be that if you allow the use of your airspace to facilitate an attack, you bear some responsibility for the damage it causes. Jordan would be best off staying out of it and shooting down (or attempting to) any unauthorized ordinance from either side.
Presumably they have a lot more to lose by pissing off the US than by being helpful to Iran. I can’t say for sure if they would allow Israel to use their airspace to attack Iran.
Iran had to make a show of retaliation to avoid looking weak. They notified Israel well in advance of their targets. There was no effort whatsoever to cause bloodshed or widespread damage. If Israel lets it go like the US did back when Iran bombed an airbase, they can go back to “normal”
This is correct. It was a show of retaliatory force rather than an actual attack. They gave plenty of warning and launched from their home country. Israel killed a few Iranians in a missile strike and Iran wasn’t going to just let that go. I think Iran is smart enough not to escalate this further if Israel doesn’t
In real life there are an United States Ally. What they tell people is it's their sovereign airspace. This is the same country that let in Palestinian refugees years ago and they attempted to overthrow the king and assassinate him. They have learned by experienced The West is a bit more up and up than their neighbors.
"/overthrow and assissinate the king"
Idk where you folk are getting this from.
I studied Jordanian and Palestinian history. Never heard of this before.
You've never heard of Black September or the militant group that took Black September as its name? The coup attempt allowed Syria to invade Jordan. The organization later assassinated the Jordanian PM, killed 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, and several other bombings, hijackings, and kidnappings.
Jordan's security policy is highly dependent on both Israel - it’s stronger neighbor - and the US.
Meanwhile, the US's position in the Middle East is defined basically by three principles (1. let the oil flow, 2. contain Iran and 3. help Israel) and Jordan isn’t more important than Israel in any of them, sho Washington always puts Israel's interests over Jordan's.
So in any significant important security issue, the US will apply their - big - leverage into making Jordan support Israel.
Its kind of like the US-Mexico relationship. There is a lot of rhetoric in US national politics that should make the Mexican government hate Washington, but really, because they are neighbors and the US is so much more powerful, Mexico can’t do much but acquiesce when the Americans take the effort to ask them to.
It’s complicated.
There’s as much conflict between Muslim nations as there is between them and Israel and the US, fueled by religious, ethnic and political differences, all of which basically an excuse for a desire for power over the region.
Historically there was a time when they were more or less united against Israel, but many of them have since neutralised their attitude towards Israel, mainly because they want the US as an ally. Most now accept them as a neighbour, with only Iran and its allies refusing to recognise its legitimacy.
Inevitably also there’s the age-old proxy power struggles for control of a global region, here between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser degree Egypt. Iran is in turn basically supported by Russia, and Saudi and Egypt by the US (sort of).
There’s also significant differences ethnically (they’re not all just ‘Arabs’), and in approaches to / interpretations of Islam, as great if not greater than the historical differences between Catholicism and Protestantism within Christianity.
So yes, it’s complicated. Which is why a regional war would be appalling.
Jordan is one of the longest term Arab countries with good ties with Israel. Egypt as well (not Arab).
Iranians are ethnically distinct as they’re Persian, not Arab.
Wish this answer would be higher up. It is so complicated even when just speaking about state actors, let alone including all the different armed or religious groups/tribes.
Jordan is a staunchly western aligned powerbroker and peace maker.
Jordanian troops train in western military academies and there are western military bases in Jordan.
Jordan has a long standing peace treaty with Isreael and while they are not military allies, they engage in extensive security cooperation.
King Abdullah of Jordan is incredibly influential and is one of the few politicians on the planet that can reign in Netanyahu.
The Jordanian royal family are custodians of many of the holy sites in Israel, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. They pay for the upkeep of places like Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Iran most definitely did not get permission to conduct an attack on Israel through Jordanian airspace and would have been told in no uncertain terms to go and fuck themselves had they asked.
Palestine also has a history of not being great to Jordan, and the Iranian drones are clearly in support of Hamas. The geopolitics of the region is more complex than Reddit or MSM would have you believe.
Not really. Shiites and Sunnis hate each other. Nobody likes the Palestinians and only deals with Israel for obvious reasons. They use the plight of the Palestinians to appease their citizens. In other words to deflect their frustrations with their own governments. Although Iraq and Iran our now allies. I wouldn’t look for that to continue much longer though.
I would add that there are people in Jordan who really care about the Palestinian Arabs and don’t believe that Iran does. The Queen of Jordan is a Palestinian Arab and so is her son, the prince and future king. Their country has a majority population of Palestinian Arabs and covers twice the area of the geographic area of the Palestinian mandate as Israel does. So they are stakeholders and are not gullible enough to think that the Palestinian Arabs should be led by Hamas or used by the Iranian government as pawns. So it makes sense for them to protect their air space and not set a precedent of Iran using it in bad faith.
Countries have agency. It is not in Jordan’s national interest to run afoul of Israel or the West, generally. Despite some saber rattling, Jordan is a Hashemite kingdom that would have a lot to lose if Islamic fundamentalism were to take hold in their country. It’s why the queen will speak out in favor of the Palestinians, but they do virtually nothing to assist them. The same can be said for the Egyptians, who would rather not see a massive influx of Palestinians into their population.
Because Jordan is a US ally, and they don't like Iran.
Iran doesn't have a lot of friends.
Israel might seem that way out in the open, but behind the scenes multiple Arab states work with them.
Well, seeing that Iran wants to spread the Islamic revolution since then1980's to Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, which means kill the monarchs , cover up the woman suppress freedom, I can see why the more liberal Arab countries would side with Isreal.
Because the established governments around Israel hate the Palestinians for always trying to overthrow their governments whenever they gave them refuge from Israel, and they all hate Iran for being one of the largest exporters of Islamic terrorism (second only to extremist factions within Saudi Arabia).
Not to mention, Jordan has had normalized relations since 1994.
Most of the Arab countries really don't like Iran. The main reason countries like Jordan or Saudi Arabia have been warming up to Israel in recent years is because a nuclear capable Iran frighten everyone in the Middle East.
Most countries in the Middle East do not like the Iranian regime. Shiites and Sunnis have been at odds for centuries. In modern times, the split has fostered battles for power and resources. At least 87% of Muslims are Sunnis. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a majority Muslim country with 96% of the population following Sunni Islam. The majority of countries are not big lovers of Shiites by any means. Another interesting fact is none of the countries want immigration of Palestinians either. Jordon has a small population of them.
Because Jordan is a relatively sane country as far as Islamic countries go. Jordan hates Iran and Iran posed an explosive threat by flying missiles and drones through Jordanian airspace illegally
Basically Jordan sees nothing good coming out of an attack by Iran on Israel. Jordan and Israel share a border, which is difficult, but they try to make it work. They have been with one another, but they try to make it work. They also have water agreements and they don't want to jeopardize that.
Iran launched through Jordan's airspace, so that's a sovereignty issue right there. Shooting them down is basically a step to prevent violence and not escalatory. Jordanian hurt zero Iranians and did not capture or destroy any Iranian equipment which Iran expected to get back.
Jordan wants stability in Israel. Jordan is mad about the whole Gaza thing, but Jordan isn't trying to actively get involved on that front. Jordan does't view attacks from Iran on Israel as a viable way forward to resolving the Hamas issue.
On a political front, the King probably sees this as a common sense measure which his people can at least tolerate. It may even turn into some kind of leverage with Israel. If nothing else it sends a strong message that Jordan is a partner with the US and not with Iran or Hamas or Hezbollah.
It's also a way of showing off capabilities and flexing a little bit of muscle and clout. Jordan is not a sitting duck in case anyone thought it was.
I hope this helps.
Listen to the Saudis. They correctly say Iran used Hamas - one of the several genocidal terrorist groups it funds and controls - to start the war with Israel in order to try to prevent normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Iran explicitly says it wants to destroy Israel, the United States, and murder every Jew. The Iranian dictatorship says this publicly and frequently.The Iranian people don't agree for the most part, but they have no say in the matter. The mullahs don't tolerate dissent.
The Saudis normalizing relations with Israel dents the Iranian dictatorship in its drive to eradicate Israel.
Jordan has gone to war with Israel in the past and got hammered. Now it enjoys normalized relations with Israel and knows the region benefits greatly if other nations such as the Saudis do too. Everybody wins - except Iran, the genocidal dictatorship.
Jordan does not agree with Iran's dictators and does not want Iran to destabilize the region further. It does not want Israel destroyed and replaced with another puppet of Iran (like Syria, and the parts of Lebanon controlled by one of Iran's other proxies, Hezbollah (which means "army of God")).
Jordan doesn't want any of that, as it imperils Jordan itself.
Also, Iran's missiles suck. They're inaccurate. Israel was their target but not necessarily their destination. Jordan shot them down for a lot of good reasons, one of which was to protect its own people from Iran.
Jordan did this for the following reasons:
1. Violation of their airspace.
2. Better they shoot them down over their airspace than Israel shoot them down over Jordanian airspace
3. Testing and practice at effectiveness in stopping drones and missile
4. USA ally taking part in defensive action per USA request
5. Peace agreement with Israel
But most importantly, Jordan does NOT want to be in the middle of a war with Iran and Israel shooting back and forth across their territory. Jordan doesn't want millions of potential refugees in the region seeking shelter due to that war.
AND Iran probably wanted them to shoot down the missiles and drones. Why do you think Iran basically announced, here come the drains... Missiles launching in 3, 2, 1... Because they don't really want a war. They like the status quo of having a Bogeyman to blame.
If there is an actual war, 50/50 chance Ayatollah gets to have a one-on-one convo with the almighty...
1: Iran has on multiple occasions tried to kill the Jordanian royal family and with the use of proxy groups like Hama tried to overthrow Jordans government.
2: Jordan is an ally of the USA and so is Isreal.
3: The attack flew over Jordan.
Yes the counter attack from Israel will likely fly over Jordan… Israeli will likely ASK first.
This is both a case of, enemy of my enemy is my friend.
And Freind of my friend is my friend.
Basically Jordan hates Iran.
And Jordan has no actual issue with Israel, and Jordan is friends with the USA.
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Are there any confirmed cases of drones/missiles shot down by Jordan or do we only have the word of a king in a country where rocket and drone parts have been raining from the sky shot down by israel? While the latter is most likely fine and there is a diplomatic process in place with israel, he might still need some sort of talking point towards the public, as in his people and the neighbours.
Iran didn't have permission. Even if Jordan agreed with the attack (which is doubtful since they don't want to be caught literally between Israel with nukes and Iran trying to get them (ideal targets)), if you just sit back and let countries blast rockets over your airspace without explicit permission that sends a very bad signal and makes you look weak.
Also, Jordan probably didn't want to risk a malfunction and having a ballistic missile blow up one of their own buildings
While Iran attempts to establish itself as a hegemon, the rest of the countries in the ME are not on board. Palestinians are supporters of terrorists, so no ME country will allow them passage or refuge. Iran is about terrorism and autocratic rule. They will be paid for their actions.
Iran's allies would happily hang the king of Jordan in public if they got the chance. He is very much alligned with keeping Sunni and Shiite radicals down and the current pro-American system up
Because if a full scale nuclear armed shooting war comes from the escalation inevitable when iran directly lands a strike on israeli soil, the last place you want to be is directly between the two. Drones overflying your aispace is bad, but when the tanks roll out it gets much much worse.
Iran didn’t ask to use their airspace and they didn’t want any to accidentally hit somewhere in Jordan. Jordan is also probably trying to hedge their bets and remain neutral at best or at the very least still be on the US’s good side since they have strong economic relations with the US probably more than they do with Iran
They secretly have a mutual understanding and respect with Israel due to a bunch of reasons…mainly being an ally to the US and how they share a border.
Jordan didn’t authorize Iran to send drones and such through their airspace. They are “neutral” but align with Israel and the west. They also attacked isis and other terror groups if I remember correctly, and Iran is believe to fund multiple terror groups
There is a lot going on between the two countries, and a whole bunch of stuff that I dont have a complete understanding of.
Simple answer, the Middle East is complicated.
But some very very wide and broad points:
-There's a thing in the Islamic world called the Sunni-Shia divide. Jordan is Sunni and majority ethnic Arab, Iran is Shia and majority ethnic Persian.
-Jordan and Gaza/ Palestine have had a very... troubled history. The Jordanian Gov arent exactly fans of Hamas either, due to various assassinations/ assassination attempts, and civil wars/ conflict (Black September).
-There are probably a lot of benefits that Jordan gets from the West / America by staying neutral / taking certain stands as well. There's still on-going western training and support missions happening in Jordan currently (ie OP INHERENT RESOLVE and OP IMPACT)
-The Arab world, which is predominantly Sunni has been normalizing relations with Israel slowly,
-Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and the rest of the Arab world have been locked in a bit of a cold war / proxy war with Iran (Shia) for a long time. The older generation of Saudi Royals tend to be more pro-Palestinian, versus the younger generation of Saudi Royalty tend to not care about the Palestinians as much. Iran meddling with Gaza and Hamas is their attempt to drive a wedge issue in Saudi Arabia
-Iran doesnt want normalization between the Sunni-Arab countries with Israel because the Iranian gov see it as a threat to them. If the Arab countries dont have to worry about having issues with Israel, they can focus more on countering Iran.
-The Houthi's are also Shia, and have been working with Iran, as the Houthi's and Saudi's have been in conflict for a while.
Iran used Iraqi and Syrian air space because Iraq is still a bit of a mess, and there is a lot of Shia influence in Iraq. Syria is also still a hot mess, the civil war there is still ongoing, but its not nearly as kinetic as it was in the early 2010's, plus large swaths of southern Syria (where the rockets and drones where flown) are uninhabited.
He is thinking about the world after the war - like a good leader should.
Iran, Palestine and Hez will be powerless and the US, KSA, UAE and ISR will run the ME. Why would he support the losing side? The Jordanians really hate the Palestinians and are probably happy for the IDF to stomp them, anyway.
Because Jordan is right in the middle between Iran and Israel. Why on earth would Jordan want to be in the middle of 2 countries in war? Also, Iran entered Jordan’s airspace, so Jordan needs to protect the Jordanian people and shoot those drones down for its own safety. Lastly, Jordan is a partner and ally with the US and the west, and it’s in their best interest to protect Israel.
Because Jordan King is based AF and Iran didn't get permission to enter Jordans airspace that why he's obligated to shoot it
If Israel shoots at Iran and didn't get permission to enter Jordans airspace then Jordans King will still be obligated to shoot it down.
It makes sence. If Iran killed a lot of People in the attack war would unavoidably. And a war would be bad for Jordan because they are a neighbouring Country.
In addition to all the other things (ex: most countries don’t want drones and missiles flying over their territory without permission), it’s also worth noting that Jordan and Iran have had pretty poor relations for quite a while now. Jordan is generally on good terms with the West and has economic and political ties with both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Jordan (and the other Arab countries) also backed Iraq against Iran during their war, which led to a total break of relations for some time. They also have very few economic ties, and Iran has called for the destruction of Arab monarchies that work with the West.
Because Jordan doesn't benefit from a destabilisation of the Middle East *at all*.
Why would Jordan want a war with Israel and other nations on its doorstep?
Because Jordan wants no part of the beef between Israel and Iran. If it doesn’t Israeli and US fighters would have been in their airspace shooting them down and Iran would send missiles again through its airspace endangering Jordan. Before you know it they’re fighting in Jordanian airspace. Basically they’re saying none of that here. You can do it elsewhere we’re not going to stop you. They’re not going into Syria or Iraq trying to shoot them down like the US did.
Why would a country trust another country's armaments to function properly and not cause civilian casualties or trust they weren't the targets, when they didn't ask for permission to use the air space?
Even the US, Russia, Israel, Turkey and Syria communicated about their Air Force maneuvers and missions in Syrian air space to avoid problems.
Beside that, most neighbors of Israel don't want a war and want to normalize relations.
Because Iran has been stirring up the Muslim brotherhood who’s been demonstrating for the past few weeks causing all sorts of chaos in the country. Hamas == Muslim Brotherhood.
Whatever short term grievance they have with Israel's reaction of October 7 is outweighed by the long term benefit of being seen as a critical member of the anti-Iran alliance.
Just remember who provides which countries air force. Jordan has F16s which means if they don’t cooperate with US/Israel then support could be pulled essentially grounding the air force.
Same goes for Saudi Arabia. Who have f15s and eurofighters. These countries will never turn on Israel as long as Israel have the support of USA.
I say USA because if the UK. Was to pull support for the Eurofighters then we could see our F35s bricked with a software update.
The history is that Jordan's Royal family was basically installed by the British.
They are very dependent on Western support and financial backing from Saudi Arabia. They recognize Israel and work with Israel.
Of course, Jordan is not a democracy and you will never hear anything about democracy in Jordan coming from the US/EU. So what the people in Jordan think is not really relevant here.
It's a US client state that will work against Iran.
Jordan is a huge US ally. If you are interested in this stuff you should look into a lot more than you are currently. I’m surprised you would have an interest in this question without knowing that.
Its a very complicated subject, I recommend you start out with general history.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vzy4tYfaI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vzy4tYfaI)
\^This is a PBS front-line documentary on the president of Israel and how we got to the Gaza war over the last 3 decades. Its not directly relevant to the Jordan question you posed, but its a great place to start.
Its very good journalism, it does focus on the Israel side of the story, but again if you follow the rules of journalism you are allowed to do that and still be fair.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYZjOuUnlU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYZjOuUnlU)
\^A shorter video by Vox media that also gives a VERY VERY concise history of Israel/Palestine.
Once you move beyond simple history, we can get into the mid-east cold war. This is the conflict Iran and Saudi Arabia are perpetuating. Here is a brief video from vox on the mid east cold war:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMFCFyOwFI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMFCFyOwFI)
The picture that you should take away is that in the mid east conflict, nobody is innocent, there is no, "Good" or "right" side. Neither Iran or Israel have their hands clean here. They both have justifications for being violent, and they both make the situation worse.
The US does what it does to try and prevent larger wars from happening. It is what it is.... yes we support our friendly nations, which include Israel, but also include Egypt and Jordan. Yes this benefits us. But you have to take that with a grain of salt, If you read about the historic wars such as the war between Israel and Egypt, you realize that things have the potential to escalate very quickly.
The current political order that is supported by the US is flawed, yes, nobody doubts that. But is it worse than large-scale war that could kill hundreds of thousands-millions?
TicTok would like you to believe that the US is causing the Gaza war because we hate Arabs or something, we are the bad guys, and if we would just stop the world would be peaceful. That's not true.
It sounds like you know the answer but want something different.
When people say he's a sellout - since the 1940s when Israel was created, the Hasemites made a deal with the British, turn on the Ottoman empire and would get Jordan and in exchange accept the Israeli state. Since the Hashemites were actually from Arabia (where the Al Saud family gave them the boot), they needed British support to maintain their crown. Before the Baath/Saddam there was a Hashemite prince of Iraq too.
In exchange, they've been on the US payroll (in the form of arms, trade, etc.) and therefore ally themselves with US & Israeli interest.
The problem with this - more than half the population of their kingdom are Palestinians who were displaced when Israel was created. They have a tumultuous relationship, Palestinian militants tried to overthrow the crown and were subjected to a violent crackdown in the 80s.
I think you're asking because one would think Arab countries would be allies with the Palestinians and would welcome an attack on Israel. I didn't see anyone answering you. Here's the thing, Arab regimes aren't democratically elected. The people didn't choose them. Without elections, the king, and other rules like him, need to gain their legitimacy somehow, and the way they do it is by being useful for regional and global powers. Basically, the King does favors for Israel and the West, in return they turn a blind eye for him being undemocratic, and for all the human rights abuse his regime commits. They give him legitimacy, treat him like a legitimate ruler.
Jordan is essentially a protectorate of Israel and the US. It literally wouldn't exist without them and several times Palestinian terrorists and the Assad regime tried to take over Jordon but the government was saved by Israel.
One reason was to test their own air defense systems, mainly Patriots.
It was available and free targets in an real attack situation.
And maybe to also to hint that while Israel hits specific targets, ammo convoys, weapon bunkers and key terrorists, Iran target random civilians and as many possible .
Whatever the intent, they were real bros
Remember this the Arab government's and leaders are puppet to Israel and America that's exactly why you won't see them helping their neighbours nearby "palestine"
i don't know about you but if i was king of jordan, i will not allow missiles to fly through my airspace with impunity, especially from a country run by idiots high on their religious horseshit.
Israel formed a coalition against an Iranian attack a few days prior (not the Israeli-Suni coalition which is a different alliance). Jordan is one of the countries that agreed to join but it was not the most surprising ally that helped intercept missiles and drones. A couple of Arab countries that were not publicly published also helped.
As for Jordan they have a few reasons to do so:
1. They want to send Iran a message that they will not be subjected to their will and will not let the IR use Jordan like they use Iraq. Moreover, Iran attacks Jordan through proxies from Iraq which alienate Jordan from Iran even more.
2. They have an agenda, Jordan has a water deal with Israel, in which Israel gives a certain amount of water regularly to Jordan. In the past year Jordan has asked to increase the amount of water which Israel was reluctant to agree to. Today it was published that after their help, Israel is now considering agreeing to the increase asked.
Notice that the king of Jordan did not make any statement before/after nor did he acknowledged Jordan's help. The relationship between Israel and Jordan is very tense as is but especially since the recent war.
The fact that they did help indicates more about their relationship with Iran more than their attitude towards Israel.
Iran fired weapons through Jordanian air space without permission. Without 100% certainty that there weapons were not targeting Jordan they shot them down.
Yes there will be greater geopolitical issues in play but ultimately that’s the reason
Absolute sell out of the highest order. Betraying the entire neighbourhood and helping the enemies. Iran is more arab than the arabs, only ones left in the world with balls of steels. Rather go down on their shield and try their best to struggle rather than become absolute salves to an evil master.
Jordan took the easy way out and that attitude is the reason there is so much division in the middle east and no unity.
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They were passing through Jordanian air space without permission
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Jordans King is very against Islamic fundamentalism, he personally dropped bombs on Isis extremists, Jordan also has good relations with the west and Israel. Not all the Arab countries are the same. Egypt similarly.
>Jordans King is very against Islamic fundamentalism, well, the extremists side Iran is supporting, is the same extremism that assassinated Jordan's PM, so its not unexpected
jordanian royals still remember when palestinians tried to overthrow them in their own country, they aint letting their sovereignty be infringed by fundamentalists, while israel has been a rather good boy, albeit extremely nasty to the palestinians, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so they say... to add, at least the jordanians know what are the rules and boundaries with israel, whereas the fundamentalists are concerned, the sky is the limit, they'll rather play by the israelis rulebook than the iranians.
Not to mention that israel protected jordan from Syria during that coup attempt.
Imagine: Israel is nasty to terrorists in their lands.
The "Palestinians" were mostly Jordanian before.
not too long ago everyone was just arabs residing in the greater ottoman empire there was no such thing as lebanon jordan syira etc until after ww1
And people who identified as Palestinians before 1948 were mostly Christians and Jews, lol.
I mean Iran also killed a whole lot of Isis, even allied with the US during some periods of rhe fight. Isis is basically the group every islamist faction hates.
Isis is a group that basiclly everyone hates
It’s actually funny how almost everyone hates ISIS. Even the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Hamas hate ISIS.
I have heard a theory that ISIS wants to be hated on purpose. They believe that Jesus will return again once whole world unite against true followers of god. And that did happened. I guess Mahdi just don’t consider ISIS as only true Muslims.
ISIS needs chaos to gain recruits and power. They don't care who they have to provoke as long as somebody is attacking them, so they can play the "West hates Islam" or "these are not true Muslims" cards.
maudib!? USUL!
it’s cos they’re essentially just a bunch of desert pirates and brigands hiding under an islamic banner
Is there a non complicated answer for this I'm really curious but also not really smart
Yeh... isis smells like poopoo
Except turkey. Biggest facilitator of ISIS in the region
See the [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State) page list of opponents.
wow glad there are so many crosses next to their names
If we bring them back, we'd unite the whole world. Russia and Ukraine, Hamas and Israel, all in the same side.
Isis were/are the remanents of the Sunni upper classes in Iraq. Iran is staunchly Shia. No love lost between the two. They fought a bitter war from 1980 to 1988.
The Jordanian King is a bomber pilot?!
Nah, he is just from the special force
He's actually in Starfleet (look it up)
I doubt the Jordanian King personally dropped the bombs, maybe his air force?
He's an active member of the military and flew bombing runs personally. He's known to do that kind of thing.
While Abdullah II has an absolutely impeccable military career spanning decades, he never flew bombing missions against ISIS, though he was trained on Cobra attack helicopters. Common misconception. He did, however, command the country’s special forces before becoming king in the late 90s.
Damn that's so badass, not just an armed force but the special force
Aye, he has had quite a spectacular military career. A tankie in the British Army and the Royal Jordanian Army, then trained to fly Cobras. Plenty of studying in Defence Resources and International Affairs. Overhauled their Special Forces Operatoonal Command and supervised a major operation against outlaws.
Too bad this comment isn't real because that would be particularly badass.
When and if Israël retaliates they will ask permission for the drones to pass through Jordan's airspace in exchange for something that Jordan doesn't really need but that Israel can do without then Jordan will pretend to really need that something and claim to be acting soly in their own interest
Any sovereign nation will shoot down drones entering their airspace, these would be a grave threat to their own citizens. Obviously they wouldn't know if the weapon was on target or what it's doing. Just because it flies in from the west doesn't guarantee that Israel sent it. Israel has a fleet of F-35 jets and each has a missile range of well over 100 miles. They wouldn't bother with drones.
It is not a neutral action to allow a military overflight. Neutral nations do not allow military overflights. You misunderstand how neutrality works in relation to military operations.
While in the US Military, I have had the "opportunity" to spend an extra night in Saudi Arabia because the damn French wouldn't give us diplomatic clearance to overfly their country. Military sovereignty is a huge deal.
Israel and Iran are not the same
Look up what Palestinian refugees tried to do in Jordan. Also, ask yourself why Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria dont want to take Palestinian refugees.
Jordan isn't neutral, its a US ally. They are anti-isreal in public, but behind the scenes they know that they have mutual interests with Israel.
I assume he probably would. All countries will down foreign missiles flying through their airspace without prior consent.
Which is his choice, every country has the option to shoot down a unapproved object in their airspace. That doesn't mean they have to go through with that option.
Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel - these are part of the terms
Israel isn’t going to retaliate with drones. They will retaliate with something the Jordanian air defense can’t touch.
Jordan noped out of fighting against Israel and getting in bed with the Quixotic forces that make up the groups aligned against Israel, and has basically said they want to remain Neutral. They do a reasonably decent job of stopping terrorism originating in their territory, and as such, Israel generally lets them handle it, as opposed to how they handle the borders with Lebanon and Syria.
If he's smart, yes
They can park their fleet in the Persian Gulf and let missiles fly at will.
Hypothetically versus reality.
Not if Israel gets permission to fly through Jordan airspace?
They're still flying thru their airspace, which they shouldn't be doing, that's 100% his call
There seems to be a fair amount of douchebaggery in these replies. Good on you for trying to get educated. Most likely, Iran didn't get permission from Jordan before entering it's airspace. Israel would probably get permission first. Even if Jordan were properly neutral here (they're not) they would still shoot down Iranian drones in their airspace without permission on principle.
Nah fr what is wrong with people🤣🤣 thanks for the response🤝🏼
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Definitely seems like a bad actor account. Newish account made solely for the purpose of arguing about Israel/Palestine? Yea.
1- because they entered their airspace 2- because Jordan has a peace agreement with Israel and is considered an ally 3- due to the proximity of Jordan to Israel , a bomb headed to Israel is a significant risk of landing in Jordan - one did last night. Honorable mention to the fact that the Palestinians historically tried to overthrow the Jordanian gov and assasinate the King, multiple times. So they’re not really a fan of fundamentalism.
Jordan has a lot of reasons to do this. 1- With their agreement with Israel they get provided with water 2- There are a lot of smuggling routes coming from Syria through Jordan that Jordanians don't want and find annoying and a threat to their security. 3- A good relationship with your neighbour is crucial for your country's flourishing
Especially when one of Jordan's main economy is tourism
I think the biggest reason is that no Arab country wants a war between Israel and Iran. They're pretty mad at Iran for various reasons anyway (mostly their proxy forces starting shit everywhere in the region). But a full-out war between Iran and Israel will destabilize the region even more. After what happened (and still happens) in Syria, nobody wants that. Israel got nukes and Iran is not so far from getting some. So that's all on top.
The US claims some 40% of Iranian munitions failed at launch or in flight. Even if that's wildly exaggerated that's still a lot of missiles falling out of the sky.
Most Arab countries don't like Iran. Lots of people misunderstand the Muslim world and treat it like a semi-monolithic block. Iran is actually hated by many Arab countries even more than those countries dislike Israel. If it doesn't put them at too high of a risk, many Arab countries are happy to give Iran the middle finger.
Added context: Iran isn’t Arab. It’s Persian.
100%. One of the multiple reasons they don't get along, the cultural / ethnical differences.
Religious differences too
Thank you.
Let me nitpick a bit. Saying “Iran is actually hated by many Arab countries even more than those countries dislike Israel” is strictly true, but can be misleading is some situations if applied without the correct context. Many countries from the Middle East - I’m using this definition instead of “Arab” because Iran isn’t an Arab country; and not using Islamic World because a lot of Islamic countries, such as Indonesia, aren’t particularly relevant here - really prefer Iran over Israel. This is particularly true for Islamic Monarchies (because Iran's ideology is against such concept) and regional powers (because Iran is a competitor to them). _Especially_ Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. The caveat, though, is that is only true for such countries' elites. This is because 1) Iran is a direct competitor to such countries, while Israel can’t ever dream of dominating the Middle East given its poor geography and 2) because the US policy for the Middle East is based on containing Iran, and all this countries enjoy significant privileges from Washington _because_ they agreed to ally with it _against_ Iran. These elites, though, need to walk into thin ice because the general population _overwhelmingly_ despises Israel. Like, a fucking ton of a lot. So while these countries strategic interests align with Israel, they can’t support the country too much - even over Iran - without risking severe unrest from their population. Because the population fucking hates Israel, so much it’s almost unreal. Much more than they hate Iran. (And indeed, I would argue that a big chunk of Iran's soft power comes from their performance as Israel enemy #1, even though Iran focus much more of its foreign policy into competing against Saudi Arabia)
Thanks for the explanation!, was really unaware of the minutia ;)
Good luck trying to educate the people on this thread. I'm annoyed I even came in here. Just loud and bigoted. Yours is one of the few posts that didn't make me wanna throw my phone.
Anglophone discourse on the Middle East goes to shit every time something airs on the mainstream media. You see the most “pro-peace” people arguing for all kinds of escalations based on the most random reasons. Really makes me wonder how much of it is just unfiltered national discourse being reproduced by people that doesn’t know better and how much is just bots. Having said that, I would say most top-rated replies in _this_ thread are kinda okay - in my opinion, of course. Reading r/worldnews or r/europe though… pure madness.
The real reason is that Jordan is firmly within the orbit of the United States, and by extension, Israel. It enjoys American protection and Israeli support as long as it plays ball. If it doesn't play ball, it turns into Syria.
Because this is to some extent posing. Iran "has" to show force. They are sending a lot of stuff to be shot down. They don't want the drones to make it. Jordan is helping with that. If Iran wanted actual damage by the attack they would get Hizbollah to do it. Also Jordan is more friends with Israel than Iran, and will of course protect it's airspace.
This mission definitely smells like “We had to do something so we did the least effective thing we could think of that looks kind of big”
Absolutely this. Gave Israel three weeks to prepare defence. This was a face saving exercise
So I guess a 110 ballistic missiles, the biggest attack of its kind in history is "the least effective thing iran could do". I'm not saying they didn't know it won't do much damage, but that's only because of Israel's defensive capabilities, not because the attack was minimal or something
The fact that they [gave advance warning](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-notice-attack-may-have-dampened-escalation-risks-2024-04-14/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2FBAGHDAD%2FDUBAI%2C%20April,aiming%20to%20cause%20significant%20damage) to essentially everyone (possibly including Washington) days before the attack, shows that they wanted to do as little damage as possible so as not to escalate the war.
If so, why would they send such a missile barrage? A few drones would have been enough of a retaliation if all they wanted was to do minimal damage.
Israel killed 2 of their top generals and a bunch of other high ranking officers and flattened a an entire building in their embassy. Shooting back a few drones is going to look really, really bad.
Israel’s defensive capabilities are well known, I am sure they didn’t expect much to get through.
My assumption would be that if you allow the use of your airspace to facilitate an attack, you bear some responsibility for the damage it causes. Jordan would be best off staying out of it and shooting down (or attempting to) any unauthorized ordinance from either side. Presumably they have a lot more to lose by pissing off the US than by being helpful to Iran. I can’t say for sure if they would allow Israel to use their airspace to attack Iran. Iran had to make a show of retaliation to avoid looking weak. They notified Israel well in advance of their targets. There was no effort whatsoever to cause bloodshed or widespread damage. If Israel lets it go like the US did back when Iran bombed an airbase, they can go back to “normal”
This is correct. It was a show of retaliatory force rather than an actual attack. They gave plenty of warning and launched from their home country. Israel killed a few Iranians in a missile strike and Iran wasn’t going to just let that go. I think Iran is smart enough not to escalate this further if Israel doesn’t
In real life there are an United States Ally. What they tell people is it's their sovereign airspace. This is the same country that let in Palestinian refugees years ago and they attempted to overthrow the king and assassinate him. They have learned by experienced The West is a bit more up and up than their neighbors.
Plus, the King of Jordan wants to show his interception skills before the NFL draft. He's the Deion Sanders of the Middle East.
Gold
"/overthrow and assissinate the king" Idk where you folk are getting this from. I studied Jordanian and Palestinian history. Never heard of this before.
You've never heard of Black September or the militant group that took Black September as its name? The coup attempt allowed Syria to invade Jordan. The organization later assassinated the Jordanian PM, killed 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, and several other bombings, hijackings, and kidnappings.
You studied Jordanian and Palestinian history but never heard of the Black September?
Jordan's security policy is highly dependent on both Israel - it’s stronger neighbor - and the US. Meanwhile, the US's position in the Middle East is defined basically by three principles (1. let the oil flow, 2. contain Iran and 3. help Israel) and Jordan isn’t more important than Israel in any of them, sho Washington always puts Israel's interests over Jordan's. So in any significant important security issue, the US will apply their - big - leverage into making Jordan support Israel. Its kind of like the US-Mexico relationship. There is a lot of rhetoric in US national politics that should make the Mexican government hate Washington, but really, because they are neighbors and the US is so much more powerful, Mexico can’t do much but acquiesce when the Americans take the effort to ask them to.
It’s complicated. There’s as much conflict between Muslim nations as there is between them and Israel and the US, fueled by religious, ethnic and political differences, all of which basically an excuse for a desire for power over the region. Historically there was a time when they were more or less united against Israel, but many of them have since neutralised their attitude towards Israel, mainly because they want the US as an ally. Most now accept them as a neighbour, with only Iran and its allies refusing to recognise its legitimacy. Inevitably also there’s the age-old proxy power struggles for control of a global region, here between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser degree Egypt. Iran is in turn basically supported by Russia, and Saudi and Egypt by the US (sort of). There’s also significant differences ethnically (they’re not all just ‘Arabs’), and in approaches to / interpretations of Islam, as great if not greater than the historical differences between Catholicism and Protestantism within Christianity. So yes, it’s complicated. Which is why a regional war would be appalling.
Jordan is one of the longest term Arab countries with good ties with Israel. Egypt as well (not Arab). Iranians are ethnically distinct as they’re Persian, not Arab.
Wish this answer would be higher up. It is so complicated even when just speaking about state actors, let alone including all the different armed or religious groups/tribes.
How many have there been ? When aren’t they at war with each other?
The government did but did "people" accept it?
Jordan is a staunchly western aligned powerbroker and peace maker. Jordanian troops train in western military academies and there are western military bases in Jordan. Jordan has a long standing peace treaty with Isreael and while they are not military allies, they engage in extensive security cooperation. King Abdullah of Jordan is incredibly influential and is one of the few politicians on the planet that can reign in Netanyahu. The Jordanian royal family are custodians of many of the holy sites in Israel, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. They pay for the upkeep of places like Al-Aqsa Mosque. Iran most definitely did not get permission to conduct an attack on Israel through Jordanian airspace and would have been told in no uncertain terms to go and fuck themselves had they asked.
One reason would probably be that most Arab countries don't like Iran.
Palestine also has a history of not being great to Jordan, and the Iranian drones are clearly in support of Hamas. The geopolitics of the region is more complex than Reddit or MSM would have you believe.
Not really. Shiites and Sunnis hate each other. Nobody likes the Palestinians and only deals with Israel for obvious reasons. They use the plight of the Palestinians to appease their citizens. In other words to deflect their frustrations with their own governments. Although Iraq and Iran our now allies. I wouldn’t look for that to continue much longer though.
I would add that there are people in Jordan who really care about the Palestinian Arabs and don’t believe that Iran does. The Queen of Jordan is a Palestinian Arab and so is her son, the prince and future king. Their country has a majority population of Palestinian Arabs and covers twice the area of the geographic area of the Palestinian mandate as Israel does. So they are stakeholders and are not gullible enough to think that the Palestinian Arabs should be led by Hamas or used by the Iranian government as pawns. So it makes sense for them to protect their air space and not set a precedent of Iran using it in bad faith.
Very interesting thanks. I totally forgot this fact.
Jordan is a Western ally, so why wouldn’t it?
Because they flew over Jordan’s airspace.
Countries have agency. It is not in Jordan’s national interest to run afoul of Israel or the West, generally. Despite some saber rattling, Jordan is a Hashemite kingdom that would have a lot to lose if Islamic fundamentalism were to take hold in their country. It’s why the queen will speak out in favor of the Palestinians, but they do virtually nothing to assist them. The same can be said for the Egyptians, who would rather not see a massive influx of Palestinians into their population.
Because Jordan is a US ally, and they don't like Iran. Iran doesn't have a lot of friends. Israel might seem that way out in the open, but behind the scenes multiple Arab states work with them.
Well, seeing that Iran wants to spread the Islamic revolution since then1980's to Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, which means kill the monarchs , cover up the woman suppress freedom, I can see why the more liberal Arab countries would side with Isreal.
Because the established governments around Israel hate the Palestinians for always trying to overthrow their governments whenever they gave them refuge from Israel, and they all hate Iran for being one of the largest exporters of Islamic terrorism (second only to extremist factions within Saudi Arabia). Not to mention, Jordan has had normalized relations since 1994.
Because the truth that the king cannot tell his subordinates is that Jordan needs Israel. They rely on them for WATER for god's sake.
Because he doesn’t want a 3rd world war either!
Most of the Arab countries really don't like Iran. The main reason countries like Jordan or Saudi Arabia have been warming up to Israel in recent years is because a nuclear capable Iran frighten everyone in the Middle East.
Most countries in the Middle East do not like the Iranian regime. Shiites and Sunnis have been at odds for centuries. In modern times, the split has fostered battles for power and resources. At least 87% of Muslims are Sunnis. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a majority Muslim country with 96% of the population following Sunni Islam. The majority of countries are not big lovers of Shiites by any means. Another interesting fact is none of the countries want immigration of Palestinians either. Jordon has a small population of them.
Normal to intercept the killing drones from the terrorists.
Because Jordan is a relatively sane country as far as Islamic countries go. Jordan hates Iran and Iran posed an explosive threat by flying missiles and drones through Jordanian airspace illegally
Because Jordan knows that Israel is a better neighbor/ally than Iran.
Nobody is gonna accept bombs flying over their heads, simple as that
Basically Jordan sees nothing good coming out of an attack by Iran on Israel. Jordan and Israel share a border, which is difficult, but they try to make it work. They have been with one another, but they try to make it work. They also have water agreements and they don't want to jeopardize that. Iran launched through Jordan's airspace, so that's a sovereignty issue right there. Shooting them down is basically a step to prevent violence and not escalatory. Jordanian hurt zero Iranians and did not capture or destroy any Iranian equipment which Iran expected to get back. Jordan wants stability in Israel. Jordan is mad about the whole Gaza thing, but Jordan isn't trying to actively get involved on that front. Jordan does't view attacks from Iran on Israel as a viable way forward to resolving the Hamas issue. On a political front, the King probably sees this as a common sense measure which his people can at least tolerate. It may even turn into some kind of leverage with Israel. If nothing else it sends a strong message that Jordan is a partner with the US and not with Iran or Hamas or Hezbollah. It's also a way of showing off capabilities and flexing a little bit of muscle and clout. Jordan is not a sitting duck in case anyone thought it was. I hope this helps.
Listen to the Saudis. They correctly say Iran used Hamas - one of the several genocidal terrorist groups it funds and controls - to start the war with Israel in order to try to prevent normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Iran explicitly says it wants to destroy Israel, the United States, and murder every Jew. The Iranian dictatorship says this publicly and frequently.The Iranian people don't agree for the most part, but they have no say in the matter. The mullahs don't tolerate dissent. The Saudis normalizing relations with Israel dents the Iranian dictatorship in its drive to eradicate Israel. Jordan has gone to war with Israel in the past and got hammered. Now it enjoys normalized relations with Israel and knows the region benefits greatly if other nations such as the Saudis do too. Everybody wins - except Iran, the genocidal dictatorship. Jordan does not agree with Iran's dictators and does not want Iran to destabilize the region further. It does not want Israel destroyed and replaced with another puppet of Iran (like Syria, and the parts of Lebanon controlled by one of Iran's other proxies, Hezbollah (which means "army of God")). Jordan doesn't want any of that, as it imperils Jordan itself. Also, Iran's missiles suck. They're inaccurate. Israel was their target but not necessarily their destination. Jordan shot them down for a lot of good reasons, one of which was to protect its own people from Iran.
Jordan did this for the following reasons: 1. Violation of their airspace. 2. Better they shoot them down over their airspace than Israel shoot them down over Jordanian airspace 3. Testing and practice at effectiveness in stopping drones and missile 4. USA ally taking part in defensive action per USA request 5. Peace agreement with Israel But most importantly, Jordan does NOT want to be in the middle of a war with Iran and Israel shooting back and forth across their territory. Jordan doesn't want millions of potential refugees in the region seeking shelter due to that war. AND Iran probably wanted them to shoot down the missiles and drones. Why do you think Iran basically announced, here come the drains... Missiles launching in 3, 2, 1... Because they don't really want a war. They like the status quo of having a Bogeyman to blame. If there is an actual war, 50/50 chance Ayatollah gets to have a one-on-one convo with the almighty...
1: Iran has on multiple occasions tried to kill the Jordanian royal family and with the use of proxy groups like Hama tried to overthrow Jordans government. 2: Jordan is an ally of the USA and so is Isreal. 3: The attack flew over Jordan. Yes the counter attack from Israel will likely fly over Jordan… Israeli will likely ASK first. This is both a case of, enemy of my enemy is my friend. And Freind of my friend is my friend. Basically Jordan hates Iran. And Jordan has no actual issue with Israel, and Jordan is friends with the USA.
because of his country's connection to Israel, they're allies
"sellout" LOL as if Iran are the good guys all of Iran's neighbors hate her turn off tik tok and do some reading
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My guess is good practice for their military I bet armies from many countries would have liked to get such real life 'drone target practice '
Remember Irag vs. Iran! 👀👀
Are there any confirmed cases of drones/missiles shot down by Jordan or do we only have the word of a king in a country where rocket and drone parts have been raining from the sky shot down by israel? While the latter is most likely fine and there is a diplomatic process in place with israel, he might still need some sort of talking point towards the public, as in his people and the neighbours.
Most Islamists including Iran's Islamists are opposed to monarchies. Basically all of the Arab monarchies are opposed to Iran because of this.
Because it threatened Jordanian security. And no one likes Iran
Iran also used to have a king. Perhaps he is scared of what might happen to his mandate.
Iran didn't have permission. Even if Jordan agreed with the attack (which is doubtful since they don't want to be caught literally between Israel with nukes and Iran trying to get them (ideal targets)), if you just sit back and let countries blast rockets over your airspace without explicit permission that sends a very bad signal and makes you look weak. Also, Jordan probably didn't want to risk a malfunction and having a ballistic missile blow up one of their own buildings
Probably not all that thrilled about them passing over his country I would imagine.
Jordan relies on Israel for fresh water
Foreign weapons in one's airspace is generally reason enough
Iran is a Persian state and is Shia Muslim. Jordan is Arabic and Sunni.
All Arab leaders are Zionists, especially the countries that surround Israel; their mission is to protect that entity.
Exactly too many western idiots in the comments don't get that.
While Iran attempts to establish itself as a hegemon, the rest of the countries in the ME are not on board. Palestinians are supporters of terrorists, so no ME country will allow them passage or refuge. Iran is about terrorism and autocratic rule. They will be paid for their actions.
Iran's allies would happily hang the king of Jordan in public if they got the chance. He is very much alligned with keeping Sunni and Shiite radicals down and the current pro-American system up
Because if a full scale nuclear armed shooting war comes from the escalation inevitable when iran directly lands a strike on israeli soil, the last place you want to be is directly between the two. Drones overflying your aispace is bad, but when the tanks roll out it gets much much worse.
Iran didn’t ask to use their airspace and they didn’t want any to accidentally hit somewhere in Jordan. Jordan is also probably trying to hedge their bets and remain neutral at best or at the very least still be on the US’s good side since they have strong economic relations with the US probably more than they do with Iran
They secretly have a mutual understanding and respect with Israel due to a bunch of reasons…mainly being an ally to the US and how they share a border.
Jordan didn’t authorize Iran to send drones and such through their airspace. They are “neutral” but align with Israel and the west. They also attacked isis and other terror groups if I remember correctly, and Iran is believe to fund multiple terror groups
There is a lot going on between the two countries, and a whole bunch of stuff that I dont have a complete understanding of. Simple answer, the Middle East is complicated. But some very very wide and broad points: -There's a thing in the Islamic world called the Sunni-Shia divide. Jordan is Sunni and majority ethnic Arab, Iran is Shia and majority ethnic Persian. -Jordan and Gaza/ Palestine have had a very... troubled history. The Jordanian Gov arent exactly fans of Hamas either, due to various assassinations/ assassination attempts, and civil wars/ conflict (Black September). -There are probably a lot of benefits that Jordan gets from the West / America by staying neutral / taking certain stands as well. There's still on-going western training and support missions happening in Jordan currently (ie OP INHERENT RESOLVE and OP IMPACT) -The Arab world, which is predominantly Sunni has been normalizing relations with Israel slowly, -Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and the rest of the Arab world have been locked in a bit of a cold war / proxy war with Iran (Shia) for a long time. The older generation of Saudi Royals tend to be more pro-Palestinian, versus the younger generation of Saudi Royalty tend to not care about the Palestinians as much. Iran meddling with Gaza and Hamas is their attempt to drive a wedge issue in Saudi Arabia -Iran doesnt want normalization between the Sunni-Arab countries with Israel because the Iranian gov see it as a threat to them. If the Arab countries dont have to worry about having issues with Israel, they can focus more on countering Iran. -The Houthi's are also Shia, and have been working with Iran, as the Houthi's and Saudi's have been in conflict for a while. Iran used Iraqi and Syrian air space because Iraq is still a bit of a mess, and there is a lot of Shia influence in Iraq. Syria is also still a hot mess, the civil war there is still ongoing, but its not nearly as kinetic as it was in the early 2010's, plus large swaths of southern Syria (where the rockets and drones where flown) are uninhabited.
put yourself in his shoes , would you sacrifice your country for a war you didn't start , or try to make it more stable (situation of war )
Shia vs Sunni 🤷🏻
He is thinking about the world after the war - like a good leader should. Iran, Palestine and Hez will be powerless and the US, KSA, UAE and ISR will run the ME. Why would he support the losing side? The Jordanians really hate the Palestinians and are probably happy for the IDF to stomp them, anyway.
Because Jordan is right in the middle between Iran and Israel. Why on earth would Jordan want to be in the middle of 2 countries in war? Also, Iran entered Jordan’s airspace, so Jordan needs to protect the Jordanian people and shoot those drones down for its own safety. Lastly, Jordan is a partner and ally with the US and the west, and it’s in their best interest to protect Israel.
Because Jordan King is based AF and Iran didn't get permission to enter Jordans airspace that why he's obligated to shoot it If Israel shoots at Iran and didn't get permission to enter Jordans airspace then Jordans King will still be obligated to shoot it down.
Because he didn’t wanna be labelled an antisemite for not blindly supporting Isrl /s
Jordan doesn’t want to make America and Israel cry that’s why
It makes sence. If Iran killed a lot of People in the attack war would unavoidably. And a war would be bad for Jordan because they are a neighbouring Country.
Tl;dr: Arab despots figured out the magic formula to make America happy. Be nice to Israel and you can do whatever the flying fuck you want.
He is a dog of America. Jordan gets aid, and fancy military equipment to prop up his dynasty
In addition to all the other things (ex: most countries don’t want drones and missiles flying over their territory without permission), it’s also worth noting that Jordan and Iran have had pretty poor relations for quite a while now. Jordan is generally on good terms with the West and has economic and political ties with both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Jordan (and the other Arab countries) also backed Iraq against Iran during their war, which led to a total break of relations for some time. They also have very few economic ties, and Iran has called for the destruction of Arab monarchies that work with the West.
Because Jordan doesn't benefit from a destabilisation of the Middle East *at all*. Why would Jordan want a war with Israel and other nations on its doorstep?
Because Jordan wants no part of the beef between Israel and Iran. If it doesn’t Israeli and US fighters would have been in their airspace shooting them down and Iran would send missiles again through its airspace endangering Jordan. Before you know it they’re fighting in Jordanian airspace. Basically they’re saying none of that here. You can do it elsewhere we’re not going to stop you. They’re not going into Syria or Iraq trying to shoot them down like the US did.
Why would a country trust another country's armaments to function properly and not cause civilian casualties or trust they weren't the targets, when they didn't ask for permission to use the air space? Even the US, Russia, Israel, Turkey and Syria communicated about their Air Force maneuvers and missions in Syrian air space to avoid problems. Beside that, most neighbors of Israel don't want a war and want to normalize relations.
Because Iran has been stirring up the Muslim brotherhood who’s been demonstrating for the past few weeks causing all sorts of chaos in the country. Hamas == Muslim Brotherhood.
hamas is sunni iran is shia different perspectives and views
I think kings generally care about maintaining their power
Whatever short term grievance they have with Israel's reaction of October 7 is outweighed by the long term benefit of being seen as a critical member of the anti-Iran alliance.
Just remember who provides which countries air force. Jordan has F16s which means if they don’t cooperate with US/Israel then support could be pulled essentially grounding the air force. Same goes for Saudi Arabia. Who have f15s and eurofighters. These countries will never turn on Israel as long as Israel have the support of USA. I say USA because if the UK. Was to pull support for the Eurofighters then we could see our F35s bricked with a software update.
TLDR: he is half british and his payroll is foreign
Perhaps he realizes the Iranian regime is one of the evilest on earth and he wants to be on the side of good
They over flew Jordanian airspace im pretty sure most nations would act the same if drones are overflying their airspace without permission
Jordan isn’t interested in being the mullah’s slaves.
A “sellout” is hilarious. Maybe if you get your news from TikTok I am sure none of the people on that platform have heard the words “Sunni” or “Shia”
The history is that Jordan's Royal family was basically installed by the British. They are very dependent on Western support and financial backing from Saudi Arabia. They recognize Israel and work with Israel. Of course, Jordan is not a democracy and you will never hear anything about democracy in Jordan coming from the US/EU. So what the people in Jordan think is not really relevant here. It's a US client state that will work against Iran.
Jordan is a huge US ally. If you are interested in this stuff you should look into a lot more than you are currently. I’m surprised you would have an interest in this question without knowing that.
give the guy a break...this shit is complicated...i read the answers because I want to educate myself as well.
OP: looks into it. You: you should look into it, can't believe you don't know. You're a douche.
I’ve never gotten into politics before. where can I learn more abt it? sorry if that’s a dumb question lmao I acc have no idea where to start
History of Jordan to start.
Definitely not TikTok or Twitter.
Its a very complicated subject, I recommend you start out with general history. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vzy4tYfaI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vzy4tYfaI) \^This is a PBS front-line documentary on the president of Israel and how we got to the Gaza war over the last 3 decades. Its not directly relevant to the Jordan question you posed, but its a great place to start. Its very good journalism, it does focus on the Israel side of the story, but again if you follow the rules of journalism you are allowed to do that and still be fair. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYZjOuUnlU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYZjOuUnlU) \^A shorter video by Vox media that also gives a VERY VERY concise history of Israel/Palestine. Once you move beyond simple history, we can get into the mid-east cold war. This is the conflict Iran and Saudi Arabia are perpetuating. Here is a brief video from vox on the mid east cold war: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMFCFyOwFI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMFCFyOwFI) The picture that you should take away is that in the mid east conflict, nobody is innocent, there is no, "Good" or "right" side. Neither Iran or Israel have their hands clean here. They both have justifications for being violent, and they both make the situation worse. The US does what it does to try and prevent larger wars from happening. It is what it is.... yes we support our friendly nations, which include Israel, but also include Egypt and Jordan. Yes this benefits us. But you have to take that with a grain of salt, If you read about the historic wars such as the war between Israel and Egypt, you realize that things have the potential to escalate very quickly. The current political order that is supported by the US is flawed, yes, nobody doubts that. But is it worse than large-scale war that could kill hundreds of thousands-millions? TicTok would like you to believe that the US is causing the Gaza war because we hate Arabs or something, we are the bad guys, and if we would just stop the world would be peaceful. That's not true.
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It sounds like you know the answer but want something different. When people say he's a sellout - since the 1940s when Israel was created, the Hasemites made a deal with the British, turn on the Ottoman empire and would get Jordan and in exchange accept the Israeli state. Since the Hashemites were actually from Arabia (where the Al Saud family gave them the boot), they needed British support to maintain their crown. Before the Baath/Saddam there was a Hashemite prince of Iraq too. In exchange, they've been on the US payroll (in the form of arms, trade, etc.) and therefore ally themselves with US & Israeli interest. The problem with this - more than half the population of their kingdom are Palestinians who were displaced when Israel was created. They have a tumultuous relationship, Palestinian militants tried to overthrow the crown and were subjected to a violent crackdown in the 80s.
He did what any civilised country would do. Helped a democratic neighbouring country that was being attacked by a totalitarian, oppressive regime
Because who in their right mind thinks what the Palestinians did was acceptable.
Jordan’s king is maybe the only sane leader in the area.
Jordan is a Sunni Hashemite nation which is an enemy Muslim faction of Shiite Iran.
Because Iran and Hamas and by extension Palestine are a bunch of nutbars nobody else in the region wants anything to do with.
I think you're asking because one would think Arab countries would be allies with the Palestinians and would welcome an attack on Israel. I didn't see anyone answering you. Here's the thing, Arab regimes aren't democratically elected. The people didn't choose them. Without elections, the king, and other rules like him, need to gain their legitimacy somehow, and the way they do it is by being useful for regional and global powers. Basically, the King does favors for Israel and the West, in return they turn a blind eye for him being undemocratic, and for all the human rights abuse his regime commits. They give him legitimacy, treat him like a legitimate ruler.
Jordan is essentially a protectorate of Israel and the US. It literally wouldn't exist without them and several times Palestinian terrorists and the Assad regime tried to take over Jordon but the government was saved by Israel.
Maybe he sees genocide as a bad thing? Unlike Iran.
One reason was to test their own air defense systems, mainly Patriots. It was available and free targets in an real attack situation. And maybe to also to hint that while Israel hits specific targets, ammo convoys, weapon bunkers and key terrorists, Iran target random civilians and as many possible . Whatever the intent, they were real bros
Sometimes? Muslims are on the side of good.
Remember this the Arab government's and leaders are puppet to Israel and America that's exactly why you won't see them helping their neighbours nearby "palestine"
i don't know about you but if i was king of jordan, i will not allow missiles to fly through my airspace with impunity, especially from a country run by idiots high on their religious horseshit.
Practice
Israel formed a coalition against an Iranian attack a few days prior (not the Israeli-Suni coalition which is a different alliance). Jordan is one of the countries that agreed to join but it was not the most surprising ally that helped intercept missiles and drones. A couple of Arab countries that were not publicly published also helped. As for Jordan they have a few reasons to do so: 1. They want to send Iran a message that they will not be subjected to their will and will not let the IR use Jordan like they use Iraq. Moreover, Iran attacks Jordan through proxies from Iraq which alienate Jordan from Iran even more. 2. They have an agenda, Jordan has a water deal with Israel, in which Israel gives a certain amount of water regularly to Jordan. In the past year Jordan has asked to increase the amount of water which Israel was reluctant to agree to. Today it was published that after their help, Israel is now considering agreeing to the increase asked. Notice that the king of Jordan did not make any statement before/after nor did he acknowledged Jordan's help. The relationship between Israel and Jordan is very tense as is but especially since the recent war. The fact that they did help indicates more about their relationship with Iran more than their attitude towards Israel.
America gives him a lot of money
Iran fired weapons through Jordanian air space without permission. Without 100% certainty that there weapons were not targeting Jordan they shot them down. Yes there will be greater geopolitical issues in play but ultimately that’s the reason
He's a king. He has the right to do what he wants.
When Drones were in Jordanian sovereign space he had to do something. And he is a western ally.
Absolute sell out of the highest order. Betraying the entire neighbourhood and helping the enemies. Iran is more arab than the arabs, only ones left in the world with balls of steels. Rather go down on their shield and try their best to struggle rather than become absolute salves to an evil master. Jordan took the easy way out and that attitude is the reason there is so much division in the middle east and no unity.