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Even with all that’s occurring in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, the Center East stays a supply of concern for the USA and its companions within the area.
Secretary of Protection Lloyd J. Austin III met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on the Pentagon as we speak to debate the scenario within the area and to look at methods for the 2 nations to work collectively much more intently.
“Jordan is a valued chief in a tough neighborhood and a strong associate for stability and safety within the area,” Austin mentioned originally of the assembly. “After all, Russia’s unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine is on all people’s thoughts. My latest conferences in Kyiv left me extra decided than ever to assist Ukraine higher defend itself. And I sit up for listening to your views, Your Majesty, on the disaster. as nicely.”
Jordan is an space of stability in a sea of unrest. The nation shares borders with Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Saudi Arabia, and there are maybe as many as one million refugees from Syria and Iraq taking shelter within the nation. There are additionally Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, which swells that quantity.
Austin desires to widen and deepen U.S. cooperation with Jordan. “Our partnership with Jordan is extra essential than ever,” he mentioned. “That is due to our long-standing friendship, in addition to the threats that we face as we speak, together with Iran’s assist for terrorism, the rise of drug smuggling within the Levant and the continued risk of violent extremist organizations akin to [the Islamic State].”
The Levant refers back to the area alongside the jap Mediterranean shores, roughly akin to modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and sure adjoining areas.
Jordan was an energetic associate within the coalition to defeat ISIS, and King Abdullah is working to deepen ties with Israel in assist of the two-state answer to the Israeli-Palestinian issues.
Austin expressed U.S. concern for the latest escalation of violence in East Jerusalem, and he thanked the king for his efforts to scale back these tensions. “I sit up for our ongoing work collectively to discover a viable path to stability, safety and a simply peace for each Israelis and Palestinians,” the secretary mentioned.
Iran continues to disturb the peace within the area, sponsoring proxy teams that launch assaults utilizing missiles and unmanned aerial methods. “We’ll maintain working collectively to strengthen the area’s multilateral safety frameworks to counter destabilizing actions by Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Syria and past,” Austin mentioned.
King Abdullah famous the numerous instances and locations all through the world the place U.S. and Jordanian troops labored alongside one another. “We’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder in lots of elements of the world, and this can be a supply of delight and honor for us,” he mentioned. “As we glance to the challenges of the area and the longer term, we all know that we’ll be standing subsequent to one another increasingly more. And that provides me large hope.”
The king particularly desires to look at the scenario within the area because it comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic. He famous that many terror teams used the previous two years as a time to rebuild and “incubate” terror.
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