Amman- The

pace of Jordanian official cooperation with the Syrian regime is escalating after shuttle meetings and official visits between the ministers of the two parties at various political, economic and security levels.

The meetings culminated in the arrival of a high-level Syrian delegation to Jordan on Monday morning, which included the ministers of water resources, agriculture, electricity and economy. They were received by the Jordanian Minister of Industry and Trade Maha Ali, at the head of an official delegation at the Jordanian-Syrian border crossing "Jaber" in the north-east of the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya announced the reopening of the "Jaber Nassib" crossing between Jordan and Syria, starting tomorrow, Wednesday, according to technical and logistical measures related to the management of cargo and passenger traffic.

The decision comes - according to the statement of the Ministry of Interior - to "revitalize the trade and tourism movement between the two brotherly countries, taking into account the required security and health measures."

These accelerated developments came after a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Miqdad, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York a few days ago, the first meeting at the political level between a Jordanian and Syrian official in about 10 years.

A few days earlier, the Jordanian army commander, Yousef Al-Hunaiti, had received in the capital, Amman, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Syrian army, Ali Ayoub, to discuss security files of interest to the two countries. Russian sponsorship.

These meetings were preceded by a meeting attended by the Syrian Minister of Energy, along with the energy ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, as part of efforts to transport Egyptian gas through Jordan and then Syria to Lebanon to contribute to solving the electricity crisis that Lebanon is suffering from, a line that Syria will benefit from by obtaining quantities of gas, according to What Syrian media reported about officials in Damascus this month.

US President Joe Biden (right) in a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II (center) last July (social networking sites)

System Rehabilitation Plan

The Jordanian openness to the Syrian regime comes within what observers see as a multilateral Arab plan to "rehabilitate the Syrian regime and integrate it into its Arab environment, leading to its return to the League of Arab States."

In this context, political analyst Oraib Al-Rantawi says that King Abdullah II of Jordan presented a written proposal on the Syrian crisis during his recent visit to the United States and his meeting with President Joe Biden and the staff of the US administration, "in order to help Jordan and Lebanon get out of their crises."

Al-Rantawi added to Al-Jazeera Net, "The king received an orange light from the American administration regarding the penalties for Caesar's Law. It is not a green light that is open to all files, nor is it closed to red, but rather approaches to economic, security and political solutions."

The United States ratified the "Caesar Act" at the end of 2019, which is concerned with the protection of civilians in Syria, but it mainly includes the imposition of economic sanctions targeting the reconstruction of Syria in particular and the parties involved in it in general, so that Washington has the final say in this path.

The Jordanian king also presented his plan regarding the situation in Syria to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting last August.


Repeating the scenario of the siege of Iraq

In this context, Muhammad Al-Halaiqa, the former Jordanian deputy prime minister, believes that "King Abdullah II pressured to break the siege on the Syrian regime and open cooperation with it, leading to the new Levant project that includes Iraq and Egypt, in addition to Syria and Jordan."

Regarding "Caesar's Law penalties", Al-Halaiqa told Al Jazeera Net that Jordan had obtained "trade and economic exceptions that allow the entry of Jordanian goods into Syria, which raises the trade exchange between the two countries," similar to what was done during the siege on Iraq, when Jordan was granted economic exceptions from the administration. American.

But the exchange of goods, the transportation of trucks between the two countries, and the export of gas and electricity to Syria to Lebanon, need a stable security situation.

This was discussed in a meeting that included the Jordanian Chief of Staff and the Syrian Minister of Defense.

The security situation in the southern Syrian governorates is not safe at all, as military expert Fayez al-Duwairi believes that there are thorny and important files for the two countries, most notably “the smuggling of weapons and drugs, and the presence of militias and armed organizations near the Jordanian borders, which threatens the security of the Kingdom.”

Al-Duwairi told Al-Jazeera Net that the vision of Russia and America is not unified for Jordan's plan to rehabilitate the Syrian regime. its economic crises.

Through the new plan, Jordan seeks to open an outlet for investment in the reconstruction of Syria (Al-Jazeera)

open crossings

Jordan seeks, through the new arrangements, to open an economic, commercial and investment outlet to participate in the reconstruction projects in Syria, while the Syrian regime sees in the plan a return to its relations with its Arab surroundings, according to analysts.

Oraib Al-Rantawi expects relations between the two sides to expand, leading to a meeting between the Jordanian and Syrian prime ministers, and the reactivation of the Jordanian-Syrian joint committee.

As for Al-Halaiqa, Jordan did not have any closed borders left with neighboring countries except with Syria, so it was necessary for the new plan to open the borders.

Al-Duwairi stresses the need to clarify the mechanisms for entering trucks, transporting passengers, and preserving their security and lives on the Syrian side.

As well as facilitating the work of major companies participating in the reconstruction in light of the obstacles of "Caesar's Law".

According to Jordanian analysts, the survival of the Syrian regime due to Russian and Iranian support prompted Jordan to deal with the crisis diplomatically to achieve its interests, after a rupture that lasted for years, and reached the Jordanian king to demand the Syrian president leave in 2014.