Jordan, Iran FM meet to discuss Syria crisis, drug trafficking

The Jordanian and Iranian foreign ministers met to discuss the Syrian crisis last week, as the conflict continues to rage on and cross-border drug smuggling plagues the region.

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday, Jordan’s foreign minister held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in which they discussed the ongoing instability in Syria and the failure to curb the trafficking of narcotics over the country’s border with Jordan.

Their discussion reportedly centred around the establishment of a resolution in line with the “step-for-step” process where the international community restores ties with and accepts the Syrian regime back into the diplomatic fold in exchange for reforms.

READ: Europe is main transit route for Assad’s captagon trafficking to Middle East, report reveals

Jordan’s Ayman Safadi highlighted the ongoing narcotics trafficking operations that have seen drugs such as captagon entering Jordan through the Syrian border, most popularly using drones which the Jordanian military attempts to shoot down. He “stressed the need to stop the threats the crisis poses to the security of Jordan and the region, especially the threat of drug trafficking,” according to an Iranian readout.

Safadi also stated that Amman is “keen to end all tension in the region” and to develop good relations with Iran. To do this, he explained, they must “address all causes of tension”. To that end, it was revealed that “security dialogue” had begun between Amman and Tehran.

The meeting came only days after Jordan’s King Abdullah lamented Iran’s role in the trafficking of narcotics across the Jordanian border and the wider region, and questioned Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad’s actual control over his country.