Jordan’s Involvement in Intercepting Iranian Marches: Controversy and Strategic Analysis

Watan-Before and after Jordan confirmed its participation in countering the marches launched by Iran towards Israel on Saturday night, a state of controversy and division erupted among social media platforms.

In this context, Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh said that the Jordanian forces “intercepted some of the drones that entered our airspace last night.”

Two regional security sources said that the Jordanian Air Force intercepted and shot down dozens of Iranian drones that violated the kingdom’s airspace and were heading towards Israel.

They added that the army is also on high alert, and radar systems are monitoring any activity of drones coming from the direction of Iraq and Syria.

Why did Jordan participate in the interception operation?

Many Twitter users raised several questions, including: Why did Jordan participate in the interception operation? Why didn’t they let the marches pass to Israel? And other questions.

One blogger stated that Jordan committed another strategic mistake after October 7th. It erred when it opened the land route for goods to reach Israel, erred when it suppressed demonstrations supporting Palestine, and erred when it activated its air defenses to intercept missiles and marches that were not directed towards it.

One follower commented on this tweet, saying that the complex international and regional relations dictated the nature of engagement in intercepting missiles, and that the period after October 7th is not the same as before.

Others pointed out that Jordan is facing an electronic attack on social media platforms due to the interception of drones that penetrated its airspace, which is considered defending Jordan’s land and people.

Twitter users said that Israel will retaliate against Iranian attacks, but the question they raised is what if Israeli missiles were launched from Tel Aviv towards a target and passed through Jordanian airspace? “Will our air defenses intercept them as they did today with the Iranian drones?” aimed towards the occupation.

In response to this question, one said that if Jordan is protecting its airspace from both parties to the conflict (Iran and Israel), then it’s its right, but if Israel is penetrating Jordanian airspace to intercept marches, as reported by news sources, then this is aligning with the occupier.

Twitter users indicated that “Jordan is under pressure, and it is the loser in the Iranian response that made its marches and missiles pass through Jordan instead of Syria and Lebanon,” and they wondered, “What do they want from Jordan?” Perhaps they want it to relinquish its guardianship over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

At least 4 countries, along with Israel, acknowledged that they contributed to repelling Iran’s attack on Israel by shooting down Iranian missiles and drones on Saturday/Sunday night.

The concerned countries are the United States, France, Britain, and Jordan, through whose airspace dozens of drones flew.

Iranian attack on Israel

Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel’s history on Saturday night, using drones and missiles, in response to an Israeli missile attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus earlier this month, which killed 7 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that Iran launched more than 300 rockets and drones at Israel, and 99% of them were intercepted. He added that a small number of ballistic missiles entered Israeli airspace.