Rubio Meets with Jordanian Prime Minister, as US Contacts with Middle East Allies Continue
The meeting is the most recent in a series of contacts between senior U.S. officials and senior officials in Middle Eastern countries allied with Washington.
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) - Jordanian Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Dr. Jafar Hassan, is visiting Washington. On Tuesday, he met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The meeting is the most recent in a series of contacts between senior U.S. officials and senior officials in Middle Eastern states allied with Washington.
No U.S. official has explained why this concentrated series of engagements with Middle Eastern leaders is occurring now. The most obvious explanation is that it relates to the emerging confrontation between the U.S. and Iran.
These meetings began last week with a telephone call on Tuesday between the U,S, Secretary of Defense and his Egyptian counterpart. It was followed by a meeting on Wednesday between Rubio and the Saudi Foreign Minister and then by a meeting on Thursday between the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Jasem Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Read More: US Holds Series of Meetings with Arab Allies Ahead of Meeting with Iranians
Then, on Friday, Rubio spoke with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani.
Read More: PM Barzani and United States Reaffirm Strategic Ties
That conversation was followed by a visit to Erbil by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, Victoria Taylor. She met with the Kurdish Prime Minister on Tuesday.
Read More: KRG Prime Minister Discusses Strengthening Bilateral Ties and Key Issues with US Delegation
In addition, Rubio spoke on Monday with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. According to the U.S. readout of their exchange, Iran and Syria were the focus of their conversation.
They discussed “the dangers to regional security and stability posed by Iran and its proxies,” it said, while ”they agreed on the importance of counterterrorism operations and strengthening NATO,” the last few words probably reference to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Dr.Jafar Hassan and Jordanian Politics
For a political figure, Hassan has an unusually lengthy academic resume. He also has significant experience in the U.S. and other Western countries. He is fluent in English and French, in addition to his native Arabic.
Hassan received a bachelor’s degree from the American University in Paris, before earning a master’s degree at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of International and Developmental Studies in Geneva.
Hassan long served as a senior aide to Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Last September, he was appointed prime minister, following elections that were deeply affected by the war in Gaza that began with Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border assault into Israel.
At least half of Jordan’s population is Palestinian, and the Muslim Brotherhood has used the conflict to mobilize support for its cause, while it has tried to undermine the Jordanian government and its peace treaty with Israel, along with its ties to the U.S.
Since Oct. 7, “Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Jordan have agitated against King Abdullah II—who has maintained stable relations with Israel and hosts U.S. troops—and led massive rallies against Israel and boycotts against American brands,” The Washington Post explained.
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s political front won nearly a quarter of seats in the Jordanian parliament” in last September’s elections, the Post said. Abdullah responded by removing the prime minister and appointing Hassan in his place.
On Tuesday, the same day that Hassan met with Rubio, Jordan’s security service announced that it had arrested 16 people, as it broke up a Muslim Brotherhood plot to manufacture missiles and drones and use them to “sow chaos” throughout the country.
Jordanian officials told Reuters that the arrests were linked to Hamas. Since the war in Gaza began, as The New York Times reported, “Jordan has countered Iranian efforts to smuggle weapons through the country to Palestinian militants across the border in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to regional and U.S. officials.”
