Jordan’s Proactive Role in Regional Stability: Intercepting Drones Aimed at Israel

The night between April 14 and 15 proved to be a long night for the people of the Middle East when Iran’s attack on Israel with drones and missiles turned all eyes on the sky of the Arab world. 

This attack by Iran was carried out as a result of the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, for which Israel does not accept the responsibility in clear words, but the general opinion in this regard in the United Nations is that this attack Israel was behind.

For the past six months, the Arab region has been the center of attention of the whole world due to the Israel-Gaza war, so this attack by Iran was being watched very carefully around the world. The sky was lit up on various occasions throughout the night and Israel was able to defend itself against this attack with the help of its allies. 

Israel’s statement said that some of the drones and missiles were repelled by its advanced defense systems, while most were shot down with the help of other allies, including the United States before they entered Israel’s territory. These allies include the United States, Britain, France and Jordan. 

The United States, Britain, and France are all three Western countries, but after the shooting down of Iran’s drones and missiles by Jordan, a Muslim country in the Middle East, some users on social media, not only in Pakistan but also in different by Muslim countries of the world, which were surprised. If expressed, some appear to be criticizing Jordan.

Jordan is among the top trends on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and in this regard, a photo of King Abdullah II of Jordan by Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, a former member of Pakistan’s upper house, the Senate, and leader of Jamaat-e-Islami. He has been awarded negative titles while posting. 

More than 2.6 million people responded to Senator Mushtaq’s tweet, which shows that there is a lot of interest in this regard in Pakistan.

Speaking to the platform called ‘Azad Digital’, he said that the King of Jordan never managed to stop the missiles, drones, and planes of Israel, but Iran stopped the missiles and drones going to Israel. I felt bad about it.

This move is being criticized not only in Pakistan but even in Jordan, where anti-Israel protests were being held outside the US embassy until a few weeks ago.

It should be noted that the ancestors of one out of every five people in Jordan belong to Palestine and Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdullah II of Jordan, also belongs to Palestine and has been raising her voice regarding the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza recently. 

What is the position of Jordan and Iran on this issue?

After public criticism, a statement issued by the Jordanian government said that this measure was taken to protect the local population of Jordan.

 Certain objects (in this case missiles and drones) entered our airspace which we intercepted because they posed a threat to our people and populated areas,” the statement said. Debris from these repulsed targets fell in various places in Jordan, but no one was harmed.

The statement added that “our army will defend Jordan in the future to repel any attack by any country and protect its nation, its citizens, its airspace and territory. 

Where is Jordan located and where does it stand historically in the Arab world?

 Geographically, Jordan is located in a very sensitive location in the Middle East. Jordan shares borders with Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, and Syhumanitarian with Israel and West Jordan. Its Red Sea coastline covers only 16 miles.

According to the World Bank, the population of Jordan is more than 1 million, while more than 90 percent of the people are Arabs, and the official language here is Arabic. A large number of people have immigrated to Jordan from Palestine and Syria.

The red triangle or triangle on the flag, while the three rectangles represent the three caliphates that ruled across Jordan in history. The black rectangle represents the Abbasid caliphate, the white represents the Banu Umayyad caliphate, and the green represents the Fatimid caliphate.