By Anas al-Bar | 2024-04-14

Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hizbullah has been trying to undermine security and stability in Jordan, as it has done in Iraq and other countries in the region, via a new campaign of provocations, observers said.

In an April 1 post on Telegram, Kataib Hizbullah security chief Abu Ali al-Askari said the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq is prepared to arm 12,000 fighters in Jordan, against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.

Kataib Hizbullah is ready to supply these fighters with "millions of ammunition [rounds], tons of explosives, anti-armor missile launchers, tactical missiles and light and medium weapons," he said.

In an interview with Al-Hadath TV, Jordan's former Minister of Information Samih al-Maaytah warned that Iran "has an agenda and is trying to create tentacles and influence for itself in Jordan through a militia, people, or any method."

The Islamic Republic "has been trying for 40 years to penetrate the Jordanian arena just as it has penetrated other arenas through its militias," he said, adding that Jordan "will continue to be an impossible knot to untie for Iran."

Kataib Hizbullah has interfered in Jordanian affairs before, and on January 27 attacked a base in the kingdom's northeast near the Syria border.

Six months ago, at the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the militia mobilized thousands of its supporters at the Iraq-Jordan border crossing, claiming it wanted to pass through Jordanian territory with food aid convoys for Gaza.

Observers regarded this as a ruse that was intended to enable the militia to gain a foothold in Jordan.

When its request was rejected by the Jordanian authorities, Kataib Hizbullah organized an "open sit-in" at the Trebil crossing that lasted for several weeks.

In addition to the sit-in, the militia launched an incitement campaign against Jordan on its digital platforms and media channels.

Threats to Jordan's security

Iran and its affiliated militias have sought repeatedly but unsuccessfully to threaten Jordan's security, Iraqi writer and political analyst Adel al-Ashram bin Ammar told Al-Fassel.

The kingdom will remain "an impenetrable bulwark against the plans of Iran and its proxies," he said.

On April 8, personnel from the Jordanian Armed Forces' eastern military zone thwarted an attempt to infiltrate and smuggle large quantities of narcotics from Syria into Jordan, the Jordanian news agency, Petra, reported.

Iran-aligned militias operating in southern Syria, including Lebanese Hizbullah, have established extensive regional arms and drug-smuggling networks.

These militias have massed their elements on the Jordanian border in order to undermine the kingdom's stability, "and they failed," bin Ammar said.

"Today they openly announce their malicious intentions by claiming that they have followers and supporters and that they are ready to support them with weapons," he said.

This claim is nothing but a "new desperate attempt" to target Jordan, he added, expressing his "support for the kingdom and his confidence that the Jordanian people have the awareness to defeat these Iranian threats."

Iraq seeks regional stability

Iraq rejects any infringement on the security and sovereignty of any country, an Iraqi official told Al-Fassel, on condition that his name not be used.

The Iraqi government stands with all parties that support stopping the Israel-Hamas war and tackling the humanitarian crisis, he said, adding that Iraq is "actively coordinating with regional and international countries in this regard."

The government seeks to ensure the stability of the region and will not accept any "positions that would push the conflict toward further escalation," he said.

Kataib Hizbullah and the other Iraqi militias in Iran's orbit are not concerned with the impact of their hostile activities on Iraq's reputation and obligations, Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies director Ghazi Faisal Hussein told Al-Fassel.

These militias adhere to the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist), which calls for allegiance to al-Wali al-Faqih (Iranian leader Ali Khamenei), he said.

They are "totally subject to the will and authority of Khamenei," he explained, and believe the Iranian leader's orders "must be implemented without discussion because they are religious mandates."

The Iranian regime "establishes armed groups and supports them with money and weapons to act on its behalf by interfering in the affairs of other countries and causing problems and chaos in these countries," Hussein said.

In so doing, it aims to sow discord without paying the high cost of war, he said.

Iran considers the continued regional activity of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and its proxies to be imperative for the continuation of its authority and protection of its doctrine, he added.