While some analysts have emphasized support for Tel Aviv during an unprecedented Iranian attack, nations like Jordan and Saudi Arabia have more complex reasons for wanting to stop Tehran as Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night (13/04). in retaliation for an attack in early April on his consulate in Damascus, Syria, Tel Aviv’s allies intervened on his behalf.
The US and UK air forces helped shoot down many of these shells. France may also have participated in patrolling the area, although it is unclear whether the French dropped anything.
But what attracted a lot of attention was the fact that the Jordanian Air Force also cooperated. The country opened its airspace to Israeli and American planes and apparently shot down the drones that had invaded it.
According to the Reuters news agency, residents heard intense aerial activity and images of the remains of a downed drone in southern Amman, Jordan’s capital, circulated on social media.
“The Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, may also have played an indirect role, as they host Western air defense systems, surveillance and refueling aircraft that would have been vital to the effort,” British publication The Economist reported .
On social media, some observers saw the Arab involvement as proof that Arabs and Israelis can work together and that Israel is not alone in the Middle East.
“We may not know all the details of the Arab cooperation tonight in intercepting the Iranian attack on Israel for a while, but it was undoubtedly significant, including the use of Jordanian airspace. It certainly helped save many Israeli lives.” , journalist Anshel Pfeffer of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published on X. (formerly Twitter).
“The big news in Israel this morning is that the Jordanian Air Force intercepted drones heading towards Israel in its airspace. Particularly noteworthy for the generation of Israelis who remember taking cover from Jordanian attacks,” wrote X Mairav Zonszein, analyst at the NGO International Crisis Group. . “What we learned from this: Diplomatic agreements are vital to stability.”
Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, points out that even important Arab countries critical of the war in Gaza, such as Jordan, supported the Israeli military reaction to the bombs sent by Tehran.
Tenuous balance for Jordan and Saudi Arabia
More than half of Jordan’s population is believed to have Palestinian roots, including the country’s queen herself. In recent weeks, the country has seen increasingly aggressive protests against Israel.
At the same time, Jordan borders Israel, is custodian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem – an important site for Muslims, Christians and Jews – and regularly collaborates with Israeli authorities, albeit often behind the scenes.
Jordanian authorities, who also have an important ally in the United States, must balance competing interests with their own political stability and self-defense. Hence Jordan’s quickness to declare that by helping Israel it was actually defending itself.
“Some objects that entered our airspace last night were intercepted because they posed a threat to our people and our populated areas,” the Jordanian government said in a statement. “Various fragments [dos drones abatidos] fell into the country’s territory without causing significant damage.”
But for Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Jordan’s involvement was, in part, also to “demonstrate that Jordan is a good partner with the United States.” “Jordan can be treated better by its Western partners,” he wrote on X. “But the question is: how will the Jordanian public view this defense of Israel?”
Saudi Arabia also had to balance its interests, international alliances and realpolitik with appearances related to the conflict in Gaza.
The wealthy Gulf state was poised to normalize relations with Israel before the October 7 Hamas attacks that left around 1,200 people dead. But the Israeli response in the Gaza Strip put these plans on ice. In six months, the death toll in the Palestinian enclave has already exceeded 33,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
The Saudi government welcomes calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and has criticized Israel’s conduct in the conflict. Privately, however, they are still interested in improving relations with Israel, experts point out.
Long-standing conflict between Iran and the Gulf
Regardless of whether or not they intervened on Israel’s behalf in the case of the Iranian attack, the Saudis have other reasons for wanting to shoot down Tehran’s missiles.
The Middle East has been divided along religious and sectarian lines for decades, with Gulf Arab states and their Sunni Muslim majorities facing off against Iran, where Shiite Muslims predominate. The enmity is reminiscent of previous conflicts in Europe, when the two main sects of Christianity – Protestants and Catholics – were belligerent rivals.
Central Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, whose populations are a mix of Shiite and Sunni Muslims as well as other religions and ethnicities, have found themselves in the midst of a struggle for influence between Iran and the Gulf states.
This is where the so-called Iranian “agents” come in, a group that includes Shiite Muslim organizations that Iran supports financially, militarily, logistically and even spiritually. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq and the political and military group Hezbollah in Lebanon are all members of this Iranian-sponsored alliance.
The Hamas Islamists are also supported by Iran, but in this case they represent an exception since, like the majority of Palestinians, they are Sunni Muslims.
As part of the Iranian offensive, these groups fired rockets from Yemen, Syria and Iraq towards Israel in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday. In Iraq, there are reports that American military personnel stationed there shot down some of these rockets. It is unclear whether the Saudis intercepted anyone from Yemen, but they have done so in the past, late last year.
“For regional players, particularly Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the argument will be that they are legitimately protecting their sovereign airspace,” said Masoud Mostajabi, deputy director of Middle East programs at the U.S. Atlantic Council , in an analysis published Saturday evening.
“However, if tonight’s attacks escalate into a broader Israel-Iran conflict, regional actors perceived as defenders of Israel could end up being targeted and drawn into a regional conflict,” Mostajabi warned. “Given what is at stake, it is likely that regional leaders will be motivated to take action between the two sides to end this confrontation.”
Source: Terra
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