Jordan's top diplomat makes rare visit to Iran as fears of a wider regional war soar

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Jordan’s foreign minister met Iran’s acting foreign minister in Tehran on Sunday as the United States and its Arab allies try to prevent a wider war after the back-to-back killings of top Iran-allied militants sparked vows of revenge against Israel.

Ayman Safadi is the first senior Jordanian official to pay an official visit to Iran in over 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran toward Israel in April. Iran said it was retaliating for the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria.

Many fear Iran and its regional allies could launch a similar attack following the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in an Israeli strike on Beirut last week and of Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Tehran a day later. Both attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which has acknowledged killing the Hezbollah commander. Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have vowed to avenge the killings.

Jordan, which borders Israel to the east, would likely be in the path of any Iranian retaliatory strike.

Safadi “will deliver a message from His Majesty King Abdullah II to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the situation in the region and bilateral relations,” Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said earlier in a statement.

The foreign minister will later meet the newly elected Iranian president, according to Iran's state TV.

Safadi insisted that the tension in the region would end only with the cessation of the war in Gaza during his meeting with acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, state TV reported, adding that the two discussed bilateral relations, developments in the region and “the Zionists’ heinous act of assassinating the martyr Haniyeh.”

After the meeting, Jordan's foreign ministry said in a statement that Safadi's visit was to hold discussions on the “dangerous escalation” across the Middle East. “We want our region to live in security, peace and stability, and we want the escalation to end,” Safadi was quoted as saying, calling for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and a resumption of talks for a Palestinian state.

Safadi reiterated Jordan’s condemnation of Haniyeh’s killing, calling it an “escalatory step” and urged for calm, fearing a regional war would have a “devastating impact on everyone.”

“We have begun an in-depth dialogue that we are completing now, within the consultation framework on how our position can be 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,” he added.

The last time a senior Jordanian official traveled to Iran on an official visit was in 2004 when then-Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez went to Tehran. Last week, Jordan sent a lower-ranking official to Pezeshkian's inauguration.

Hamas leader Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the ceremony, died in an explosion that Iranian authorities have said was caused by a short-range projectile.

Jordan cooperates with American forces under the umbrella of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and works closely with other militaries, including those of Israel and Saudi Arabia.

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Associated Press writer Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report.