Important regional cooperation

All indications suggest that Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament Atef Tarawneh’s visit to Tehran will open new scopes of cooperation between Jordan and Iran.

In his meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday, the lawmaker discussed a variety of regional issues, particularly Syria and Iraq, which both countries have for neighbours, and the Iranian president highlighted the important role Jordan has in finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The two countries’ shared territorial proximity to Iraq and Syria poses various security concerns to and, as such, imposes special responsibilities on both nations that should coordinate efforts to bring the crises in Iraq and Syria to a peaceful conclusion, the Iranian leader said. 

He called on regional countries to support the Syrian and Iraqi governments in their war against terrorism and to contribute to political solutions that enable their peoples to determine their future.

Not forgotten was the Palestinian problem, which, Tarawneh said, is a priority to Jordan.

The lawmaker underlined the King’s efforts to solve the issue on the basis of the two-state solution that should lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while Rouhani said that Tehran understands the burden Jordan shoulders as a result of the unceasing Israeli violations against the holy places in Jerusalem, which are under the Hashemite custodianship.

Jordan seeks to bridge the gaps between Muslim sects in order to fight for the common cause: the defeat of terrorist organisations and to prevent Islam’s image from being distorted by the acts of some misguided criminals who use religion as a banner for their bad deeds. 

At the bilateral level, the two sides emphasised the need to broaden relations, particularly in the political and economic fields.

Iran is a regional power that plays an important role in regional affairs.

If this role is channelled towards helping the two neighbours in crisis, Iraq and Syria, that can be beneficial to the entire region, which is squandering life and resources on futile wars for power.

Jordan seeks to have exemplary relations with all nations, in its immediate neighbourhood or farther away, based on mutual respect for the integrity and sovereignty of each.

The war on terrorism — a threat common to the world at large these days — needs close global cooperation, but especially the support of all the regional players.

In Iraq, like in Syria, the goal should be a new political order that is all inclusive and in which no sect becomes dominant or an oppressor. 

Iran can be expected to play its natural role to promote religious harmony in both Syria and Iraq, and farther afield, because short of that, the entire region could be engulfed in more religious and ethnic rivalries for decades to come, with all standing to lose.