Jordanian MP: Iran Is Waging A War Against Jordan; We Must Support Iranian Opposition Elements

Against the backdrop of Iranian efforts to undermine the Jordanian regime and destabilize the region,[1] Jordanian MP Aisha Al-Hasanat published an article on the Saudi news website Elaph in which she came out strongly against the Iranian regime and called to support Iranian opposition elements in order to overthrow it.

Al-Hasanat claimed that, as part of its imperialist plan, Iran is waging war against Jordan by facilitating the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the country, fostering local extremist forces and exhausting the Jordanian security forces by employing the Iran-backed militias to create unrest on Jordan's borders with Syria and Iraq.  The Iranian regime and its proxies, she added, are also subordinating the Palestinian cause to their needs: they are acting to eliminate the PLO, and have brought about the destruction of Gaza by supporting "the disgrace they called the Al-Aqsa Flood," i.e., Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.

Al-Hasanat called on the Arabs to back the Iranian opposition movement Mujahideen Khalq, which she said has exposed the conspiracies of the regime and made great sacrifices in fighting it. This, she argued, is the only way to rescue the Iranian people and the countries and peoples of the region from the Ayatollah regime – which is the duty not just of Jordan but of all free people.

It should be noted that Jordanian diplomat and politician Bassam Al-Amoush, formerly the kingdom's ambassador in Iran, likewise penned an article, about six months ago, in which he called to form ties with minorities and opposition elements in Iran in order to counter Iran's efforts to subvert the Jordanian regime.[2]

Jordanian MP Aisha Al-Hasanat (Image: Jo24.net)

The following are translated excerpts from Aisha Al-Hasanat's article:[3]

"What does [Iran's] Ayatollah regime want from Jordan? Why all this hostility and all these wicked efforts to destroy Jordanian society by spreading chaos, drugs and weapons and by fostering and strengthening extremist forces?

"[After] decades of hidden hatred and conspiracies against Jordan, a series of factors – [namely] the events of the Syrian revolution and the catastrophes that attended it, which continue to this day, as well as the aggression and crimes against Gaza, the genocide and the crimes against humanity [there] – have revealed the hidden [truth] and [Iran's] shameful intentions and evil plans against Palestine, and especially against Jordan. Moreover, [these plans] were, and still are, directed against the entire region!

"Now that the shameful secret of the Ayatollah regime has been exposed – [namely] that it is directing the conflict throughout the region, from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon to Palestine, and especially the Gaza Strip, [and also intends to] launch an indirect war against Jordan, a war of weapon- and drug-smuggling, of exhausting our armed forces and of [undermining] our economy, our living standards, our security and the stability that characterizes Jordan – the Ayatollah [regime] is left with no choice but to indirectly inflict the consequences of its failures on the countries of the region and especially on Jordan, for which if harbors open hostility. [It did so by] launching an escalating armed struggle against [Jordan] from the Syrian arena and the Iraqi arena by means of its proxies.

"None of this surprising, except for the fact that the expressions of hostility and the incitement of the Jordanian public were done explicitly, through articles and through statements by militia [spokesmen] – so much so that the intentions of Tehran, which started to act simultaneously on several fronts, required no assessments or interpretation [but were patently clear]. The Ayatollahs allowed their mouthpieces, their apparatuses and their weapon- and drug-dealers to launch a guided campaign against Jordan, after the shameful [facts about] their exhibitionistic attack on the Zionist entity on April 13, 2024, which seemed to be coordinated in  advance [with the enemy], was exposed, [since it involved nothing more than] fireworks and cardboard drones in a pathetic response to the obliteration of [Iran's] consulate in Syria and the humiliating assassination of many of its commanders there. 

"The fictitious and pathetic attack of the Ayatollah regime on the oppressive Zionist regime was a watershed, [marking the shift from] the policy of cunning and maneuvering it had employed vis-à-vis Jordan to a policy of confronting it [directly], which became clear after the disgrace they called the Al-Aqsa Flood. The Ayatollahs themselves admit they were behind this operation, which led to the destruction of Gaza and is intended to destroy the place of worship [i.e., Al-Aqsa] over the heads of the Palestinians and to eliminate their cause and their legitimate rights. The [ultimate] goals are to end the intifada of the Iranian people and to subjugate it, to leave the Ayatollah regime in power in Iran and to divide the influence over the region with the other [powers].

"The statements of various militias subordinate to the Ayatollah regime, as well as articles by regime officials, are the best proof that they have been in a state of confrontation with us  for many long years, and have exhausted and deceived us on our Syrian and Iraqi borders, where the Ayatollah [regime] is always maneuvering. Lebanon too has become a source of threat, because it too has become part of the crisis manufactured against us, and also because it borders on Syria, which is adjacent to Jordan.       

"The old slogan, that the liberation of Jerusalem will pass through Karbala,[4] is not really about [liberating] Jerusalem. It is meant to deceive [people] and to serve [Iran's] imperialist plans. The leadership of this regime admits that its officials opposed liberating Jerusalem via Palestine's borders with Lebanon  or Syria, because the liberation must come from areas that do not border on Palestine, such as Iraq. Yet the Ayatollahs in Iraq – armed from head to toe and [provided with plenty of] gear and funds for 20 years – have not liberated Al-Aqsa, nor have they allowed the Palestinians in Iraq to live in peace and quiet. Instead they massacred them, expelled them and stole their property, just as they have done in Syria and Lebanon. As for the Palestinian national unity, [the Ayatollahs] conspired against it and tore it to pieces in an attempt to eliminate the PLO and clear the way for their expansionist plans and those of the extremist apparatuses, which seek to undermine the security and stability of Jordan as well, and to spread [religious] extremism within it.

"The National Council of Resistance of Iran and its main [member], the Mujahideen Khalq opposition organization, have preceded us in waging an intense, blood-soaked struggle [with the Iranian regime] for over four and a half decades, during which over 120,000 of Iran's best sons were martyred and tens of thousands disappeared or became political prisoners. The Iranian resistance, headed by [Mujahideen Khalq leader] Maryam Rajavi, exposed the conspiracies and plans of the regime. Sadly, we disregarded the calls of the Iranian people that beseeched us to stand with it and [to support] the legitimate resistance and its aspirations for a free and democratic country. Today we understand that this is vital in order to rescue the Iranian people and the countries and peoples of the region [from the Ayatollah regime].

"This is not just my opinion; it is a consensus among many intellectuals and writers, Arab and non-Arab, in the east and the west. This opinion is based on admissions and facts and on real events, not on interpretations and assessments. Everyone must know that confronting the Ayatollah regime is a duty, not just of Jordan but of all free people. Jordan must not be left alone in a confrontation of this kind, for the price will not be long in coming."