Jordan faces Iranian attacks over military ties with US
Jordan, a staunch US ally that hosts American forces in the Middle East, has paid a price for its relationship with Washington, which has made the kingdom’s military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes.
Hundreds of drone and missile attacks have added to other strains on Jordan that include a slumping economy and volatility in the neighbouring West Bank, where Israeli settlers have ramped up attacks on Palestinians.
Despite the risk of more strikes, Jordanian leaders say they are committed to maintaining the relationship after decades of courting deeper security ties with American officials and offering to be a reliable partner with the West in a region rocked by conflict.
Analysts say the alliance offers Jordan a way to guard against Iran’s attempts to destabilise its neighbours. King Abdullah II of Jordan seemed to acknowledge the need for such alliances last year, when he warned that destabilisation fuelled by the COVID-19 crisis, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and multiple Israeli military campaigns in the Middle East could trigger chaos far beyond the region.
“We are living through wave after wave of disruption, without pause,” he told European lawmakers. “There is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end. That, my friends, is a threat to people everywhere.” Jordan embraces Washington to weather stormy Middle East. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a puzzle-piece-shaped nation bordering Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the West Bank. More than 11 million Jordanians live between the Jordan River, the Red Sea and eastern deserts strewn with ruins.
Besides the threat from Iran, Jordan faces other challenges, such as an economy that has buckled under millions of refugees fleeing regional conflicts. Soaring energy prices and inflation have added to the burden as the tourism sector struggles to draw visitors to landscapes lionized in Hollywood by Peter O’Toole, Harrison Ford and Matt Damon.
And next door, growing Israeli settler violence in the West Bank is deeply unsettling to Jordanians who fear instability could drive many of the 2.8 million Palestinians there to flee into the kingdom, said Sean Yom, a professor at Temple University and author of a 2025 book titled “Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible.” Since taking the reins from his father, King Hussein, in 1999, Abdullah has forged ever-stronger links between his capital, Amman, and Washington.
