Neighbourhood watch
A meeting of the leaders of two of Iraq's neighbours, Jordan and Iran, may have come just in time, reports
Sana Abdallah from Amman
On 2-3 September, Jordan's King Abdullah made the first top-level Jordanian visit to Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Separate meetings in Tehran between the Jordanian leader and President Mohammad Khatami and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini dealt a number of themes, including the situation in their mutual neighbour Iraq.
Given the recent improvement in relations between the two countries, the visit was seen as successful and even historical. Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed by the revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into being, enjoyed close political and personal ties with Abdullah's late father, King Hussein. Hussein's Jordan sided with Iraq throughout the bloody 1980-88 war against Iran, and diplomatic relations with Iran remained severed until 1991. Tepid relations chilled again after Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Since the 1996 election of the "reformist" Khatami the two countries' ties have, however, improved steadily.
Official statements emanating from the meetings welcomed the formation of a new Iraqi Cabinet as a "step towards putting power back in the hands of the people". They also called for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, and for the creation of an "independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital". The leaders also vowed to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation.
Jordanian officials and commentators were particularly pleased with the results of Abdullah's talks with Khameini, who is generally seen as the "hardline" leader who has staunchly opposed normalising relations with Israel and thus has been critical of the peace treaty between it and Jordan. Headlines and commentary in the Jordanian press focussed on Khameini's reported comment to the Jordanian monarch that his genealogical ties to the Prophet Mohamed are an impetus to relations between Jordanians and Iranians.
Analysts said the timing of the king's visit and the unpublicised details of discussions in Tehran revealed more than the diplomatic rhetoric of official statements.
Officials privately indicated that Iran was the "road to Iraq" given the sectarian demographics of the two countries. The majority of the Iraqi population is Shi'ite. This majority, represented in the Iraqi Interim Governing Council and the newly-formed Iraqi Cabinet, has close links to Iran, which is nearly completely Shi'ite. The Islamic Republic will almost certainly influence the constitution of the new Iraq after the eventual end of the Anglo-American occupation.
According to Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, Khatami said that Jordan and Iran "want to increase cooperation in solving regional problems", in obvious reference to Iraq.
Though analysts continue to use hyperbole in insisting that relations with Iraq will determine Jordan's "survival", the Hashemite Kingdom's interest in the fate of its eastern neighbour is obvious. With sanctions, domestic tyranny and especially the most recent war decimating Iraq, Jordan's economy has also suffered. Iraq was once Jordan's main trading partner and sole provider of oil. Analysts predict Jordanian economic instability will remain until the situation in Iraq stabilises.
Although Amman's "alliance" with the United States has temporarily kept the country afloat, primarily through Washington's role in ensuring that Jordan continued to receive oil from other Arab Gulf countries at discounted prices (as it had been receiving from Iraq under Saddam Hussein), there are no guarantees that the Americans can ensure the security of the kingdom. The US was unable to prevent the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad from being bombed by unknown perpetrators last month.
An analyst close to the government said while the king did not act as a "mediator" or "messenger" of the United States, which has been directing a barrage of belligerent rhetoric towards Tehran, Abdullah tried to persuade Iranian leaders to tone down their own rhetoric against Washington to avoid the wrath of the Bush administration.
"The trust garnered from this visit will give King Abdullah, who enjoys the confidence and respect of international decision-makers, especially in the US and Europe, the ability to explain Iran's point of view to these countries so that Iran can assume its vital role in achieving regional security and stability," the analyst who preferred anonymity said.
Meanwhile, a Jordanian official close to the Jordanian king said particular meetings also focused on security. The king's Security Adviser and Head of the General Intelligence Department Saad Khair took part in these talks. The two sides concurred on a number of security issues, which the Jordanian official called "an important step towards overcoming the adverse effects of years of cool relations and towards building trust between our two countries". Khatami reportedly told the king that "Jordan's security is part of Iran's security."
While officials were reluctant to reveal details from the security-related meetings, they indicated that the Jordanians raised the issue of Abu Musaab Zarqawi, a Jordanian believed to be a senior member of Osama Bin Laden's Al- Qa'eda network and who is accused of planning last year's Amman assassination of USAID employee Laurence Foley. Jordan also suspects Zarqawi of involvement in the Jordanian Embassy bombing in Baghdad and believes him to be among a group of Al-Qa'eda operatives that Tehran claims to have in custody and intends to extradite to their countries of origin.
Sources said that in return Iran sought the extradition of Iranian Mujahedeen Khalq opposition members who fled Iraq during the war, ending up in a makeshift refugee camp on the Iraqi-Jordanian border. Amman insists individuals from this group have not been allowed into the country.
