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NATO's new office in Jordan signals alliance's growing focus on Mideast
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Breaking News
Middle East


NATO'S NEW OFFICE IN JORDAN SIGNALS ALLIANCE'S GROWING FOCUS ON MIDEAST

July 17, 2024 7:17 AM
 * By Dale Gavlak

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FILE - People walk at the site of the ancient Roman Theater, in Amman, Jordan,
March 13, 2024.
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Amman, Jordan — 

NATO's decision to open its first liaison office in Jordan – the first in the
Middle East – reflects the alliance's growing concerns about Iran and Russia's
increased influence in the region.

The decision to open the office in the Jordanian capital, Amman, came during the
recent NATO summit in Washington marking the 75th anniversary of the military
alliance.

Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East analyst at the RANE Risk Intelligence in
Washington, told VOA the move is "a solid diplomatic upgrade for Jordan creating
better facilitation and lines of communication," while placing Jordan solidly in
"the Western camp to enjoy some of NATO's collective defense capabilities."

In a significant gesture of cooperation, Jordan in April intercepted Iranian
missiles targeting Israel as they flew through Jordanian air space.

Bohl said Jordan's active and coordinated air defense set it apart from Gulf
Arab states.

"Jordan was flying sorties alongside Western fighters to shoot down these drones
and missiles that were crossing their air space," he said. "That was a much more
active angle than the Saudis, Emiratis or any of the other Gulf Arabs would have
been comfortable in doing. They're very interested in maintaining neutrality
with the Iranians. Jordan, on the other hand, is against Israel's campaign in
Gaza, but it's also been very much against Iran's attempts to use the Gaza war
to deepen its influence across the region."

Bohl said Jordan has acted against Iran's hostile actions that have involved
using Jordanian territory, including those not directed against the kingdom
itself.

"And they've been intercepting Iranian weapons going into the West Bank," he
said. "They're worried about the Iranians on their northern border now that the
Russians pulled out of that portion of Syria a couple of years ago. For Jordan,
this NATO angle is all about Iran."

Analyst Nicholas Heras of Washington's New Lines Institute told VOA that the
opening of a NATO office in Jordan also signals Western intentions to curb
Russia's influence in the region.

"The establishment of a NATO office in Jordan, which is prime strategic
territory in the heart of the Middle East, indicates to the wider region that
NATO has a role beyond just Europe," he said. "And in fact, NATO's mandate
extends throughout that southern region of Europe in the Mediterranean that
Russia has been actively contesting for the better part of a decade now."

Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East director at the European Council of Foreign
Relations, said the NATO presence may quell some Jordanian concerns over Russia.

"That institutionalizes those ties a bit more and highlights some of the risks
that Jordan is facing obviously in terms of the Russian presence in Syria."

But Barnes-Dacey downplayed the significance of the new NATO office in Amman,
saying Jordan already has longstanding security ties with several Western NATO
countries.


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THE DAY IN PHOTOS

 * OCTOBER 30, 2024



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