Safadi in Tehran to Stress that Jordan’s Skies Are Off Limits

Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani receives Ayman Safadi in Tehran on Monday (AP)
Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani receives Ayman Safadi in Tehran on Monday (AP)
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Safadi in Tehran to Stress that Jordan’s Skies Are Off Limits

Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani receives Ayman Safadi in Tehran on Monday (AP)
Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani receives Ayman Safadi in Tehran on Monday (AP)

Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi arrived in Tehran on Sunday, carrying a message from King Abdullah II to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the situation in the region.

Local sources said the visit was “important in terms of timing,” adding that the Jordanian side underlined the “priority of reducing escalation in light of the developments in the region.”

Safadi held consultations with Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, according to photos published by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The Jordanian minister confirmed that his visit to Tehran comes in the context of “consultation on the dangerous escalation taking place in the region,” adding that King Abdullah II “tasked me to answer the invitation to Tehran, so that we can enter into a clear and frank brotherly conversation about overcoming the differences between the two countries.”

He went on to say: “We have started an in-depth dialogue that we are continuing now, within the framework of consultations on how to make our position clear in condemning the crime committed, and in emphasizing the need to respect Iran’s sovereignty and international law, while at the same time protecting our region from catastrophic consequences.”

A Jordanian political source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Safadi’s visit to Tehran comes as “a clarification of the Jordanian position, an emphasis on the neutrality of the Jordanian airspace, and the refusal to allow the skies of the kingdom to be a theater for military operations and to expose its security and stability to the danger of mutual escalation.”

The source also stated that Safadi’s meetings will seek to explain the Jordanian position on the current developments in the region, and the necessity of reducing the military escalation to avoid wider confrontations.

Safadi is expected to meet a number of other officials in Tehran, to consult and exchange views on bilateral, regional and international issues, according to the state-run ISNA agency.

Bagheri Kani said that his country is determined to hold the Zionist entity accountable. He warned that the situation in the West Asia region is “very sensitive due to the continuing crimes and dangerous adventures of the ruling criminal gang in Tel Aviv,” according to the official IRNA news agency.

He added: “Islamic countries in the region must adopt a unified and firm stance and take coordinated measures to prevent the continuation of genocide in Gaza and the expansion of Israeli aggression in the region.”



Lebanon: Barrack Says US Cannot 'Compel' Israel to Do Anything

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Lebanon: Barrack Says US Cannot 'Compel' Israel to Do Anything

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Washington cannot "compel" Israel to do anything, US special envoy Thomas Barrack said in Beirut on Monday, in response to a reporter's question about Lebanese demands that the US guarantees a halt to Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory.

The US last month proposed a roadmap to Lebanon's top officials to fully disarm Hezbollah within four months, in exchange for a halt to Israeli strikes and a withdrawal of Israeli troops still occupying positions in southern Lebanon, Reuters said.

Lebanon has asked Washington to act as a security guarantor to ensure that Israel will pull out its troops in full and halt targeting operations against members of Hezbollah, if the armed group begins handing in weapons.

Asked about those guarantees, Barrack told reporters after a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam that the US "has no business in trying to compel Israel to do anything."

He also told reporters that the US was not forcing Lebanon to strip Hezbollah of its arms, or considering sanctions against Lebanese officials if Hezbollah is not disarmed.

"There's no consequence, there's no threat, there's no whip," Barrack said.

Barrack, a longtime adviser to US President Donald Trump, also serves as US ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria.

He is making his third trip to Lebanon in just over a month to discuss the US roadmap, which covers disarmament of non-state armed groups, long-awaited economic reforms and better ties with Lebanon's neighbor Syria.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a months-long war last year that ended with a US-brokered truce calling for both sides to halt fighting, for Israel to withdraw troops, and for Lebanon to be free of all non-state arms, starting with the southern region closest to the Israeli border.

While Hezbollah has handed in some weapons from depots in the country's south to the Lebanese army, Israel says the group is violating the ceasefire by attempting to re-establish itself.

Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel has breached the truce by continuing to occupy at least five vantage points in a strip of the Lebanese border, and carrying out strikes on what Israel says are Hezbollah members and arms depots.