The pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen media has begun to take an interest in the protests against Israel that have taken place in Jordan. This indicates that the pro-Iran axis in the region is beginning to think about how to take advantage of the protests. Iran has sought in the past to inch closer to Jordan via its proxies in Iraq and Syria. The Kingdom of Jordan is stable but Iran would like to have more influence in Jordan and also use access there to get to the West Bank.
Al-Mayadeen reported on Sunday that “for the seventh day in a row, the vicinity of the Israeli occupation embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, is witnessing a gathering of thousands of demonstrators, in continuation of the daily demonstrations carried out by the Jordanian people to demand an end to the war on the Gaza Strip and the severing of relations with the Israeli occupation.”
This indicates that pro-Iranian groups want to take advantage of the protests. Iran backs Hamas and views the Hamas attack on October 7 as accelerating its influence peddling in the region. Iran has said recently it wants to use the aftermath of October 7 to create a new world order. Leveraging October 7 to gain a foothold in Jordan may be part of the plan.
Protests reached a wider audience than expected
The media reports claim that “students, professionals, doctors, lawyers, human rights activists, and others” have joined the protests in Jordan. “Today's sit-in witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of participants as a result of its conjunction with the occasion of [Palestinian] Land Day, which Jordanians are accustomed to commemorating every year.”
The report also claimed that the protesters in Jordan want to end peace agreements with Israel, prevent the export of vegetables to Israel, and also have praised the Houthi attacks. The Houthis have harmed trade in the Red Sea, which also affects Jordan.
“The organizers of the demonstrations and the demonstrators stressed their intention to continue this protest movement, even if the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip stops, in order to close the embassy and sever diplomatic relations with the occupation,” Al-Mayadeen noted. The report also linked the protests to a call from Hamas’s Mohammed Deif to urge marches in the Arab region. The protests coincide with the last week of Ramadan.