Dr Issam Khawaja has told Peoples Dispatch that by opening the office, the US-dominated alliance is seeking to enhance its presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, prevent the eruption of a regional war, and protect Israel. – Picture: Peoples Dispatch
By Aseel Saleh
During the 2024 Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) in Washington DC, the alliance announced the establishment of a liaison office in Jordan’s capital Amman.
Nato, considered by many to be a tool to assert and consolidate US military dominance across the world, stated that the Amman office will be its first-ever liaison office in the so-called “Middle East and North Africa” region. The announcement comes as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, backed and enabled by the US and Nato allies, completes nine months.
Peoples Dispatch interviewed Deputy General Secretary of the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party (known in Jordan as Wihdah Party), Dr Issam Khawaja, to discuss more about what is behind the establishment of this office.
Peoples Dispatch: How do you view the establishment of a Nato liaison office in Jordan and its possible repercussions?
Issam Khawaja: The establishment of a Nato liaison office is not the first step for Jordan to build or consolidate the relations with the Western alliance in general and the United States, in particular. Jordan had already made its decision to be part of this alliance that seeks to maintain its strategic interests in the region, above all the security of the Israeli occupation entity.
This step was preceded by signing the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (also known as Wadi Araba Treaty) and the Defence Co-operation Agreement which the United States and Jordan signed on January 31, 2021, and entered into force on March 17, 2021, without the approval of the Jordanian parliament.
The agreement authorises US troops, aircrafts and vehicles to have unimpeded access and use of agreed areas and facilities in Jordan. It also authorises the US to control the entry to agreed upon facilities and areas that have been provided for exclusive use by US forces, in a way that may undermine Jordan’s sovereignty.
Moreover, the United States moved many military bases and weaponry warehouses from Qatar to Jordan in the last couple of years. This means that Jordan is becoming a hub for the United States military presence in the region.
PD: Why Jordan?
IK: From a geopolitical perspective, Jordan has a central geographical location between Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories occupied by “Israel”. The Jordanian border with Syria has a remarkable significance to Nato due to its relation with the conflict between the alliance and Russia.
Russia has control over the most important naval military base in the Eastern Mediterranean region, located in Tartus city, Syria. The importance of the base stems from its location that connects Asia with Europe on one hand, and the natural gas resources extending from the Syrian coast to the occupied Palestinian coast on the other hand.
Furthermore, Jordan has direct borders with Iraq, where Iran has considerable influence, so Jordan will be acting as a buffer preventing what the US and Nato consider as the expansion of the Iranian influence into other countries in the region, and therefore protecting Nato’s interests from what the US-dominated alliance identifies as Iran’s threats.
Establishing the office in Jordan may go beyond the level of liaison, as it may become a centre for security conferences and workshops, strategic analysis, emergency planning, cyber security issues, and security-military training for Nato troops for future confrontations with Iran.
Jordan’s location is also highly important because it has the longest borders with the Israeli entity, which means that Jordan is the guarantor of the security of the eastern territories occupied by “Israel”.
PD: Why now?
IK: The intention to establish the office in Amman had been already announced by Nato in July 2023. The alliance stated then that the main reason behind the establishment of the office was the mounting Iranian influence in the “Middle East”.
Taking into consideration the current Israeli aggression on Gaza that provoked a multi-front war with the Axis of Resistance as a whole, Nato’s concerns about Iran have increased.
The defeat of the Israeli occupation may result in a regional war that may enhance and expand the Iranian influence with the assistance of its allies in the Axis of Resistance.
Moreover, Nato’s decision to open an office in Jordan became worthier than ever, after Jordan had taken part in intercepting the Iranian attack on Israel last April.
Additionally, Nato is looking forward to enhancing its presence in Jordan in light of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which the US and its allies have failed to contain.
Since the Israeli aggression on Gaza began, the US and its allies have become unable to be fully dedicated to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, as their attention was drawn towards supporting the Zionist entity, which has been facing the danger of survival-existence after October 7.
Nato is hoping that the Amman office will help in keeping the situation in the “Middle East” under its control, so they can refocus on the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
PD: Will the office opening have an impact on countries in the region?
IK: With the office opening, Nato will become more engaged in the national affairs of countries in the region by putting more pressure on them to take positions in favour of the Israeli occupation, and revive their endeavours for normalisation with the Israeli occupation and the so-called Abraham Accords.
PD: Is there any relation between the office opening and the latest news on the possibility of deploying joint Arab “peace keeping” forces in Gaza as part of post-war plans?
IK: It will definitely serve the intended plan, which the United States and its allies believe will be more acceptable and feasible for Palestinians than deploying international peacekeeping forces.
The office’s role, in this regard, would be to pressure Arab countries and the Palestinians to accept the deployment of Arab forces in Gaza as the only viable and available option. This option would be a guarantee to maintain the security of the Zionist entity and help determine how “the day after” war in Gaza will look like.
Nonetheless, the Palestinian resistance factions already rejected having any external actor ruling them, considering the “the day after” war a purely Palestinian matter.
They instead suggested a Palestinian national technocrat government to rule the Gaza strip and the West Bank with the consensus of the Palestinian resistance factions, without any connection with Arab countries that ally with the United States and normalise with the Israeli occupation.
This article was first published on Peoples Dispatch