NATO's new office in Jordan signals alliance's growing focus on Mideast

Amman, Jordan — NATO's decision to open its first liaison office in Jordan – the first in the Middle East – reflects the alliance's growing concerns about Iran and Russia's increased influence in the region. 

The decision to open the office in the Jordanian capital, Amman, came during the recent NATO summit in Washington marking the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.

Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East analyst at the RANE Risk Intelligence in Washington, told VOA the move is "a solid diplomatic upgrade for Jordan creating better facilitation and lines of communication," while placing Jordan solidly in "the Western camp to enjoy some of NATO's collective defense capabilities."  

In a significant gesture of cooperation, Jordan in April intercepted Iranian missiles targeting Israel as they flew through Jordanian air space. 

Bohl said Jordan's active and coordinated air defense set it apart from Gulf Arab states. 

"Jordan was flying sorties alongside Western fighters to shoot down these drones and missiles that were crossing their air space," he said. "That was a much more active angle than the Saudis, Emiratis or any of the other Gulf Arabs would have been comfortable in doing. They're very interested in maintaining neutrality with the Iranians. Jordan, on the other hand, is against Israel's campaign in Gaza, but it's also been very much against Iran's attempts to use the Gaza war to deepen its influence across the region." 

Bohl said Jordan has acted against Iran's hostile actions that have involved using Jordanian territory, including those not directed against the kingdom itself.

"And they've been intercepting Iranian weapons going into the West Bank," he said. "They're worried about the Iranians on their northern border now that the Russians pulled out of that portion of Syria a couple of years ago. For Jordan, this NATO angle is all about Iran." 

Analyst Nicholas Heras of Washington's New Lines Institute told VOA that the opening of a NATO office in Jordan also signals Western intentions to curb Russia's influence in the region.

"The establishment of a NATO office in Jordan, which is prime strategic territory in the heart of the Middle East, indicates to the wider region that NATO has a role beyond just Europe," he said. "And in fact, NATO's mandate extends throughout that southern region of Europe in the Mediterranean that Russia has been actively contesting for the better part of a decade now."      

Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East director at the European Council of Foreign Relations, said the NATO presence may quell some Jordanian concerns over Russia. 

"That institutionalizes those ties a bit more and highlights some of the risks that Jordan is facing obviously in terms of the Russian presence in Syria." 

But Barnes-Dacey downplayed the significance of the new NATO office in Amman, saying Jordan already has longstanding security ties with several Western NATO countries.