Jordan Has an Iran Problem. Can Israel and Saudi Arabia Unite to Combat It?

The situation also presents an opportunity for the Biden administration.

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In a conversation last week with former U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed concerns that Iranian forces in Syria could soon destabilize his country. Russia may soon redeploy assets and forces from Syria to their mired war effort in Ukraine, and Iran seeks to fill the void. 

The Jordanian monarch asserted, “That vacuum [left by the Russians] will be filled by the Iranians and their proxies. So unfortunately, we are looking at maybe an escalation of problems on our borders.”

But challenges can also yield opportunity. In this case, Jordan’s security woes can help to cement an emerging alliance between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These two unlikely partners both view Iran as a mortal enemy that threatens the broader Middle East. They both share borders with Jordan. And they both view Jordanian stability as critical to their national security.

Saudi Arabia is already mulling a move in this direction, particularly after the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. When its neighbors United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia seemed next in line. However, the leadership in Riyadh moves more slowly and deliberately than its Gulf partners. 

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  1. Ben Bobbitt

    In a world full of bad actors sometimes we have to deal with the lesser of the evils. Biden should have followed up on the Abraham Accords sooner but was loath to admit that anything good had happened under the previous administration.
    Iran is the biggest threat to peace and security in the Middle East and now with their missile and nuclear programs the threat they pose extends even as far as US soil. We should be doing all we can to build alliances to contain them. If Israel thinks they are about to break out and build an atomic bomb, they may strike first, leading to a general war in the region. May Be if there is progress building a coalition against Iran, it will make Israel feel a bit more secure.
    We’re kind of busy dealing with Putin. I’m sure he’d love for Iran to start up something to take the focus off Russia.

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    Ben Connelly

    Hmm. What if we don’t like Iran or Saudi Arabia? I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of us papering over Kashoggi’s death or ignoring the other abuses of that regime. I don’t like what they’re doing in Yemen (or Iran either).

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    Rajeev

    I still don't see why we have to continue to support Saudi Arabia without getting significant concessions. Just like supporting Egypt under Mubarak, we ended up supporting a country that was in many ways worse than countries like Iran. The fact that we have assisted Saudi Arabia to wage war in Yemen has lead to one of the worst violation of human rights in modern times. The Senate knew that on both sides but Trump forced the supplying of Saudi Arabia to continue. Joe Biden would be best to stop the decades long policy of bending to Saudi Arabia's will because some people think it's in our strategic interests.

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    Earl King

    I generally don’t like to use hyperbole, but Biden’s blind reversals of anything the Trump Administration did has come at a great cost to Americans and the world. I give Biden generally good results with Ukraine and NATO.....Saudi Arabia is not Brussels. The Middle East is a brutal place and Kings are well known to kill their enemies. The house of Saud doesn’t have hegemony tendencies. The War in Yemen is a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Israel and Saudi Arabia could do a lot together. It would be a good Union.

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      Paul Reichardt

      Come on Earl. No one in US political circles opposes Saudi normalization. Everyone understands that Israel and Saudi Arabia have common security interests and cooperation between the two is mutually beneficial. The only thing Biden is reversing here are his own campaign promises.

      I think the question is why is it contingent on the US to make concessions to and take on the security and moral liabilities from the association with the Saudis to facilitate it? We have our own values and interests, do we not?

      There’s a sense by Saudi-skeptics that they are just playing us just as they have done for decades. In this case they are manipulating Biden with prospects of a foreign policy “win” in an election year to get long term security guarantees—likely the Saudis will Lucy-football-yank normalization away at the last minute.

      Nothing was stopping them from a normalization agreement with Israel in the Trump years—in fact, MBS was a major player behind the scenes in facilitating the ones with Sudan, Bahrain, and UAE. He could have announced normalization then, but he didn’t. Why now?

      It’s a shakedown.

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        Earl King

        Countries have interests. We have mutual interests. I’m glad Biden changed his mind.

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    2. David R

      Unfortunately, Biden's administration seems to be worse than that.

      His administration seems devoted to doubling down on many bad Trump policies (see tarriffs) and reversing good Trump policies.

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