Jordan and Syria to Combat Arms and Drugs Smuggling, ISIS Resurgence

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
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Jordan and Syria to Combat Arms and Drugs Smuggling, ISIS Resurgence

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni

Jordan and Syria have agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of ISIS militants, the Jordanian foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria and that Jordan is a transit route to other countries.

Jordan's army has conducted several preemptive airstrikes in Syria since 2023 that Jordanian officials say targeted militias accused of links to the drug trade, as well as the militias' facilities.

"We discussed securing the borders, especially the threat of arms and drugs smuggling and the resurgence of ISIS. Our security is one, we will coordinate together to combat these mutual challenges," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani.

Shibani, who was in Amman after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates following the Dec. 8 fall of President Bashar al-Assad, told Safadi that drug smuggling would not pose a threat to Jordan under Syria's new rulers.

"The new situation in Syria ended the threats posed to Jordan's security," Shibani said. "When it comes to captagon and drug smuggling, we promise it is over and won't return. We are ready to cooperate on this extensively."

Answering a question about US sanctions on Syria, Shibani said the latest move by Washington to ease restrictions on humanitarian aid for Syria should be a step towards a full lifting of sanctions, which were imposed to isolate the Assad government over its deadly crackdowns on opponents.

He added that existing sanctions posed a major obstacle to the recovery of Syria from 13 years of devastating civil war.

Safadi said that his country supports the Syrian people as they work to "rebuild their homeland on the foundations that preserve its security, stability, sovereignty and unity and fulfill the rights of its people," adding that Jordan is "ready to provide electricity to our brothers immediately, and we are also ready to work together to provide gas."

Syria, targeted by stringent sanctions, has been in a prolonged economic crisis and Syrians receive only a few hours of state-provided electricity per day.



Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria’s Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused “violent explosions” around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside.

A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before.

“Until now, it’s just a Telegram channel. It’s not known if it is a real group,” said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers “the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel” and warned of a “full response” to come “as soon as possible.”

Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad’s fall.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has “not yet verified the accuracy” of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel.

“We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,” the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in “significant human and material losses.”

The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.

In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that “peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.”