Jordan and Iran: Serious engagement or diplomatic courtesy

The first visit of a senior Jordanian official to Iran in eight years, marks a potential detente between the kingdom and Islamic republic.

Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, paid a visit to Iran's capital Tehran on Saturday.

The visit from the statesman comes at a critical time, as extremist armed groups in the region continue their expansion, threatening kingdoms and republics alike.

Warming relations

Just a few months ago, a former minister, Abdullah Abu Rumman, was posted to Tehran as Jordan's ambassador, seven years after diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed. 

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has also attempted to patch up relations following a visit to Amman over a year ago.

The political landscape has shifted since the lightning advance of the Islamic State group (IS, formerly Isis) in Iraq and Syria in June last year.

Iran's emergence as a key opponent to the IS group has made it difficult for former adversaries in the region to ignore Tehran's regional influence.

Jordan has been at the forefront of international coalition airstrikes against the militant group, particularly after one of its air force pilots was captured by the IS group and brutally murdered.

State media in Amman and Tehran said that the purpose of Judeh's visit to Tehran was to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the region with President Hassan Rohani and Zarif.

With the IS group still the biggest threat to stability in the region, it is likely this will feature prominently in the talks.

The almost non-existent bilateral relationship will get less attention. There still remains some stiff domestic and external pressures for the kingdom to limit its engagement with Iran.

Over the past two years, Iran made repeated calls to Amman for a united response to the rise of "terrorism" in the region.

These calls fell on deaf ears with Jordan opting for membership of the US-led international coalition against IS.

Battling extremism

Jordan has been at the forefront of international coalition airstrikes against IS.

But when Jordan's King Abdullah II spoke of a pan-Arab, pan-Islamic alliance to combat "terrorism", Amman was compelled to respond to earlier Iranian overtures about a regional alliance.

On countering extremism, Iran and Jordan are in unison.

When Judeh spoke about Jordan's efforts to combat extremist ideology, sectarianism and sedition in the region, Rohani was quick to point out that Iran said all this years ago.

He suggested that the only way to rein in "terrorism" was for joint regional cooperation, which of course would be a way of sidestepping US-led efforts.

A Jordanian diplomat told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the Jordanian-Iranian talks served as a "gateway" for future collaboration on extremism between the two sides.

The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the talks addressed at length the best ways to deal with, and curb, the spread of extremism in the region.

Practical aspects, such as military cooperation, were not discussed, he said.

Judeh did call for Arab-Iranian dialogue efforts to resolve regional issues together, which indicated that the visit was not purely a Jordanian initiative.

A number of Arab nations, particularly in the Gulf, have fraught relations with Iran, and Jordan may be setting itself up as an intermediary between the two groups.

The unexpected visit could also put an end to the courtesy-based diplomacy that has governed relations between the two countries since the Iranian revolution in 1979.

If Arab countries and Iran do succeed in hashing out an anti-terror agreement then it will benefit from Tehran's formidable military assets.

Iran has been accused of using its military might to prop up the regimes of Iraq and Syria. 

But if this mistrust can be overcome then this could be  perhaps only way for the region to deal with the phenomenon of extremism without involving outside powers that could upset the delicate balance of power.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.