What is happening at Syrian Jordanian border?

The dangerous security event unfolding on the Jordanian-Syrian border is interacting with unprecedented trends, not only on the operational level but also on the political level, with the emergence of statements by Jordanian ministers that attempt to suggest that the issue of “armed drug attacks” from the Syrian side was actually discussed with the Iranian Foreign Minister recently.

The Jordanian Armed Forces announced that they are still monitoring the border after unprecedented battles militarily with armed drug dealers, 9 of whom were arrested and whose photos were published on Monday.

Posting photos of arrested drug dealers suggests that the Jordanian authorities are on the path to media and political escalation, while statements were conveyed by the official government spokesman, Minister Muhannad Moubaideen, in which he said that his country had hoped that the Syrian authorities would fulfill their role and duty.

According to Minister Moubaideen, “Jordan spoke on more than one occasion that this confrontation is continuing and that he is waging it against the forces that want to spread drugs, smuggle weapons, and develop their capabilities as time passes”.

The Jordanian minister said, “We in Jordan were hoping that the Syrian government would take clear measures to stop the existing chaos and stop these operations, but that didn’t happen”.

The Jordanian minister stressed that, therefore, Jordan will take all measures to confront these risks.

Moubaideen explained that Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi spoke about this matter with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian a few days ago after the martyrdom of a border guard.

He continued, saying, “The meaning of this hadith is that Jordan engaged in a long clash from the hours of Monday morning until the afternoon, which is a direct war with the forces of smuggling and armament, which are transient international networks that want to threaten the security of the Kingdom of Jordan”.

Moubaideen said, “All options are open to Jordan, and that the Jordanian Armed Forces will be the ones who will take the decision on any measures”.

The Jordanian authorities didn’t officially comment on news and statements that spoke of an air strike deep inside Syrian territory carried out by Jordanian fighter planes on Monday, which ended with the killing of figures who were reportedly running drug smuggling operations.

Reuters quoted Jordanian officials as saying that the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group and the armed groups loyal to Iran that control a large part of southern Syria are behind the increase in drug and weapons smuggling.

This information wasn’t officially issued in the name of the Jordanian government and there is nothing to prove it.

According to Jordanian sources, Jordan launched several rare air strikes yesterday, Monday, inside Syria, targeting hideouts of Iranian-backed drug smugglers in response to the smuggling operation.

The bombing targeted the homes of major drug traffickers and farms that intelligence information showed were safe hideouts for heavily armed smugglers, who also used drones to drop their shipments.