by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Jordan's political landscape is rapidly changing. Following the revelation of a secret "missile factory" by the security services, the kingdom's authorities have decided to completely ban the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood* group.
The decision was made almost instantly - literally a few days after the publication of details of the defeat of the failed underground missilemen. Most of the country's residents did not question the harsh reaction to the conspiracy.
At the same time, there is a high probability that, in addition to issues of national security, the foreign policy ambitions of official Amman played a role in the final defeat of the Brotherhood.
"BROTHERS" IN JORDAN
The Muslim Brotherhood has been active in Jordan for over eighty years, from the mid-1940s until recently, and was considered a serious political force.
The group had hidden influence over the country's civilian and military elites and even attempted several times to overthrow King Abdullah II.
The royal court responded in kind, with searches and arrests, as well as the temporary closure of individual offices of the group, and tightened control over its financial flows and political course.
However, for most of the time, both forces existed in a state of "cold peace".
Clouds began to gather over the group on April 21, when attacks against the Muslim Brotherhood began to be heard from the rostrum of the Jordanian parliament one after another.
Representatives of various political forces, both those close to the court and those who consider themselves part of the moderate opposition, accused the group of trying to sow discord and plunge Jordanian society into civil war, and to create a new “terrorist enclave” on the territory of the kingdom.
POLITICAL STORM
The accusations were prompted by reports from Jordanian security forces about the arrest in mid-April of a large group of underground fighters affiliated with the Brotherhood.
At an abandoned facility in the northwest of the country (dubbed the "rocket factory"), the conspirators manufactured homemade missiles and UAVs, and stockpiled weapons and explosives, all of which they allegedly intended to use against the authorities soon.
The deputies, clearly impressed by the scale of the secret arsenals, called on the Islamic Action Front (considered the political wing of the Brotherhood) sitting in parliament to publicly condemn the group's activities and even renounce them. Otherwise, the entire faction (31 deputies) risked losing their mandates in one fell swoop "for assisting the conspirators."
And although the speaker of parliament, Ahmad al-Safaadi, tried to soften the emotional attacks of some of his colleagues, the mistrust of the Front did not diminish, even taking into account the fact that some deputies complied with the demands and condemned the course of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The public defeat of the Brotherhood was completed by the Kingdom's Interior Minister Mazen Faraya. At a special briefing on April 23, he announced that due to the attempted anti-government conspiracy, the movement's activities in Jordan were completely banned. Any public support for the group - including online campaigning for it - would henceforth be prosecuted.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s attempts to defuse the crisis and present the activities of the detained underground fighters as “purely independent” and “separated” from all official structures have led to nothing.
THE PALESTINIAN INCIDENT
The Jordanian authorities not only dissolved the organization, but also confiscated its property and closed all its offices in the country.
At least five activists of the movement were detained "pending clarification of the circumstances." However, they were quickly released without any new charges.
It was not only the Muslim Brotherhood that came under attack from official Amman.
In parallel with the closure of the group's offices, Jordanian law enforcement officials began an operation against the Palestinian Hamas.
At least three mid-level Palestinian officials who were in the country legally were arrested in the past 24 hours and taken to al-Jandaweel prison, which has a reputation for being political.
It is also noteworthy that several days before this, several Palestinians from the Islamic Jihad faction were arrested in neighboring Syria.
The arrest was carried out by the authorities under the pretext of the Palestinians' cooperation with "anti-government forces," which shocked them quite a bit: "Islamic Jihad" and other factions felt quite comfortable in Syria not only during the Assad dynasty, but also after its overthrow, and they showed no intention of conflicting with the new Damascus.
PREPARING THE SOIL
Outside observers tend to link the two episodes together and interpret them as preparing the ground for the launch of negotiations on normalizing relations between Syria and Israel in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.
And Jordan, as one of Israel's oldest Arab "friends," is quite capable of playing the role of mediator and providing channels of communication between Damascus and Tel Aviv. Especially since interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has declared his readiness for détente with the Israelis at least several times.
In addition, Jordan has significant strategic autonomy in organizing the negotiations and has no claims against either the Syrian or Israeli side, and is less focused on the interests of its neighbors. The same Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not in a hurry to get involved in mediation, fearing to cause discontent in Iran and Turkey.
The success of the new “Abrahamic” negotiations will not only raise Jordan’s prestige in the eyes of the US and Israel, but will also open up vast opportunities for the kingdom to strengthen its presence in the Syrian market – primarily in the energy sector, where the Turks currently hold virtually undivided sway.
However, for the successful implementation of such a combination, official Amman needs to keep all internal forces under complete control. In order to quickly extinguish any discontent with the change in the political balance.
And the Muslim Brotherhood, which is under conditional control, as well as the Islamic Action Front affiliated with them (which is also one of the largest consolidated political forces in parliament) could seriously stir up the public. And in a tactical alliance with Hamas, they could also turn the Palestinian communities living in the country against the throne.
Amman does not want to risk the stability of the dynasty for the sake of dubious political benefits, and therefore chose to solve the problem effectively, taking the confrontation with the “Brothers” beyond the political in advance.