Jordan's foreign minister is expected to arrive in Iran today as the US and its Arab allies try to avert a wider war after the assassinations of senior figures in groups linked to Iran were issued warnings of retaliation against Israel, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will be the first senior Jordanian representative to make an official visit to Iran in more than 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept dozens of missiles and drones fired from Iran into Israeli territory in April. The Islamic Republic then said it was avenging the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria.
Many fear that Iran and its regional allies - the Axis of Resistance - could launch a similar attack after the assassination last week of the senior military commander and head of the strategic division of the Lebanese Shiite movement "Hezbollah" Fuad Shukr and the political leader of the Palestinian group "Hamas" in an attack in Tehran a day later. Both attacks were blamed on Israel, which admitted killing commander Fuad Shukr. Iran, along with "Hezbollah" and "Hamas", vowed to avenge the killings.
Safadi "will deliver a message from His Majesty King Abdullah II to Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian on the situation in the region and bilateral relations," said a statement by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
Safadi is also expected to meet his counterpart Ali Bagheri Khani and other senior officials in Tehran later in the day, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
The last time a senior Jordanian official went on an official visit to Iran was in 2004, when then-Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez visited Tehran.
Last week, Jordan sent a lower-ranking official to the inauguration of Iran's newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The leader of "Hamas" Ismail Haniya, who was also in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony, died the next morning in an explosion that Iranian officials said was caused by a short-range projectile.
Jordan, which borders Israel to the east, would likely find itself in the path of a possible Iranian retaliatory strike, AP notes.
Jordan cooperates with US forces through US Central Command, which is responsible for Washington's military operations in the Middle East and works closely with other militaries, including those of Israel and Saudi Arabia.