Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that Iran is attempting to create a new eastern front in its war against Israel, targeting Jordan and the Palestinian West Bank with the support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In a post on the platform (X), Katz stated: "While Iranian-affiliated groups in Gaza and Lebanon continue to fight at Israel's northern and southern borders, Iran is trying to destabilize Jordan and the West Bank under the control of the Palestinian Authority."
He added: "A dangerous situation is developing; Iran is trying to create a new eastern terrorist front against the major population centers in Israel." According to the Israeli foreign minister, units from the Revolutionary Guard, in cooperation with Hamas activists in Lebanon, are seeking to smuggle weapons and financial resources into Jordan to destabilize the situation in the region.
Katz noted that these weapons are being smuggled from Jordan across the eastern border, aiming to "flood" the West Bank, particularly refugee camps, with dangerous weapons and large sums of money. He warned that the purpose of these actions is to "create an Iranian-affiliated terrorist front, as they have done in Gaza and Lebanon and other areas, to target Tel Aviv and major population centers in Israel."
He said: "The Iranian axis of evil is effectively controlling the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) through its proxies, and is disrupting the Palestinian Authority from taking any action. We need to take control of terrorism hotspots, such as the Jenin refugee camp, and conduct a comprehensive military operation to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in this camp."
In his post on the platform (X), the Israeli foreign minister emphasized that the process of building a wall along the eastern border with Jordan should be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan to Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian and Israeli regimes.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi described the Israeli minister's statements as false, criticizing the Israeli military operations in Gaza. Safadi stated: "No amount of false information from extremist Israeli officials spreading lies, including those about Jordan, can change the fact that Israel's ongoing aggression against Gaza, violations of international law, and disregard for the rights of the Palestinian people pose the greatest threat to regional security."
The unprecedented visit by the Jordanian foreign minister to Iran on August 4 highlighted Jordan’s importance in the region, marking the first official visit of a Jordanian official to Tehran in recent years. David Schenker, a fellow at the Washington Institute, stated that Tehran is seeking to destabilize Jordan, one of Israel's Arab allies, by inciting protests against the ruling Hashemite family.
He warned that Tehran is also trying to overthrow the Jordanian regime and turn Jordan into an Iranian puppet government by increasing the smuggling of drugs and weapons through Jordan. Schenker added that these weapons are being smuggled from Jordan to the West Bank, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, but Hamas has a strong presence there.
Schenker, who previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, emphasized that "large drones are coming from Syria, and of course, the Iranians are very angry about Jordan's tilt towards the West and the fact that Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel." Jordan has enjoyed peace with its neighbor Israel since 1994, has close relations with Washington, and plays a role in managing Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
