The Jordanian King—who assumed the throne in 1999—came to Iran accompanied by Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb and a group of high-ranking officials at the official invitation of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. During his stay he had separate meetings with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Khatami and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on possible ways to bolster Tehran-Amman ties and to discuss regional and international developments, including the Iraqi and Palestinian issues.

The makeup of the Jordanian team to Iran includes the premier, the ministers of the Royal Court, of national economy, of planning and of foreign affairs, as well as General Saad Kheir, the powerful intelligence chief. This reflects Amman’s short- and medium-term priorities: economic cooperation and security. Bilateral trade, comprising mainly Iranian carpets and pistachio nuts and Jordanian potash and phosphates, make up just over $10 million a year. Both countries remain keen to participate in the multi-billion dollar reconstruction drive in Iraq. Iran said last month it was mulling restoring air links between Tehran, Amman and Baghdad. Despite strict visa procedures, scores of Iranian pilgrims flock to Jordan each year to visit shrines of the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet) including Imam Jaafar al-Tayyar, in the Jordan Valley. "If there is an intention to improve ties, this will be predominantly on the trade and economic levels, as well as in the domains of facilitating visits by Iranian religious tourism," said one Arab diplomat. "But allying Jordanian fears through reaching a security cooperation agreement is essential to any meaningful bilateral cooperation."

On the first day of his visit he spoke with Khatami on issues of mutual interests. President Khatami referred to the excellent status of Jordan in the region and called for closer cooperation among regional countries. The President called for interaction among regional countries based on mutual respect in order to attain development and restore lasting peace and security in the Middle East. Iran’s diplomacy focuses on detente, trust-building and expanding ties with other countries in the region, and Iranian relations with all Islamic states have improved to a satisfactory level. Mutual cooperation is guaranteed to be in the best interest of both sides and would be a significant step in restoring the security of the region.

Referring to the existing capabilities and grounds for mutual cooperation, Khatami stressed the implementation of the agreements already signed between the two countries to help open new horizons for bilateral cooperation. Iran is ready to render technical, scientific and extend investment aid to various sectors of Jordan’s economy such as petrochemical, gas, dam construction, water supply and irrigation. These new horizons can also be in the form of historical and religious affinity, increase in volume of trade exchange, cooperation within scientific and academic centers, cultural and artistic interactions between Iran and the friendly and fraternal country of Jordan.

However a point of deep concern in the talks remains the status of Palestinians in
the occupied lands, while Iran stands firm on its ground that it "seeks restoration of peace based on justice". Another talking point has been the current situation in Iraq and the Iranian President hoped that "through the establishment of democracy in that country in cooperation with all neighboring states, the existing anxieties would be removed as soon as possible".

King Abdullah II said, for his part, that Jordan’s nation and government were happy to upgrade relations with the Iranian government and nation and underlined expansion of mutual cooperation. Jordan’s King expressed pleasure with his visit to Tehran and hoped that putting into practice of the agreements already signed between the two countries would open new chapter for bilateral ties. Given the ample ground for economic and cultural cooperation, both sides agreed that this capacity must be utilized more than before. Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi, Industry Minister, Esshaq Jahangiri and Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani were also present in the meeting.

Jordanian political and economic affairs analysts and press believe King Abdullah II’s state visit to Iran can pave the way for the strengthening and broadening of ties between the two countries. Some Jordanian analysts praised the move, considering it a turning point in Iran’s rapidly improving ties with the Arab world. They meanwhile expect that the process of the two capitals’ talks would be a continuous one following King Abdullah’s visit, and include all possible fields of mutual interest.

The Editor in Chief of Jordan’s ‘Al Arab al-Yaum’ daily and the political analyst of that newspaper, Samih Muayata, both believe that the King Abdullah II’s state visit to Iran would definitely lead to the strengthening of the two countries’ ties in both political and economic fields. They expressed hope that such improvement of ties would also lead to the solving of the Middle East crises, such as those in Iraq and Palestine. Muayata added that both countries certainly agree on the point that the United States must end the occupation of Iraq immediately. Iran and Jordan are both Islamic countries and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Therefore, the improvement of political and economic ties between them can lead to the betterment of the Muslims’ status. Iran is a strong regional power, whose prominent status should not be ignored. Iran-Jordan ties have seen many ups and downs throughout their history, and it is sincerely hoped that a new chapter would be opened in their relations following King Abdullah’s visit, to the benefit of the Islamic and Arab worlds.

Jordanian economic analyst and head of that country’s Exports Committee, Halim Abu Rahma believes that the improvement of the two countries’ economic ties would definitely lead to the improvement of their economic status, as well. Iran and Jordan already have a joint economic commission, and we hope the committee’s activities gain momentum following this state visit. Iran is a large industrialized country in the region and broadening economic ties with it is quite welcome, since it would lead to the boosting of the Jordanian economy.

Jordanian Information Minister, Nabil Sharif, said that the visit—which had been planned for a long time—is important because it comes at a crucial time for the region. All Muslim countries need to coordinate their efforts and understand each other and try to come up with ways to look into the challenges facing the region. There are a lot of things that can be discussed and need to be discussed to promote economic cooperation and we expect that there will be some agreements to promote trade and tourism between two countries.

For his part, Iran’s ambassador to Jordan, Nasratallah Tajik, told Amman’s Al-Dustour newspaper that "We hope that this visit will be a good beginning for the Jordanian and Iranian peoples and for Arab-Iranian relations and the region". The countries in the region have realized that it is good to have a channel of communication and a dialogue to plan for cooperation because everybody in this part of world has been a target of some sort of bombing and attack. We are living in a very difficult situation, which has heightened to a point that has gotten many countries in the region very concerned.

The trip, often delayed since it was first planned for February 2001, was expected to culminate in a thaw in diplomatic relations between two countries sitting at opposite ends of Washington’s allies in the Middle East. But political ties are likely to remain cool for the foreseeable future, according to officials and diplomats. Relations between Sunni Muslim Jordan and Shiite Iran have ebbed and flowed ever since they were restored in 1991, after a 10-year break, during which Tehran criticized the late King Hussein’s support for Baghdad during its 1980-88 war with Iraq. The fact that King Hussein had supported Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed in the 1979 revolution, was an additional irritant in relations. Deep differences over Middle East peace, Jordan’s support for the United Arab Emirates in its decades-old dispute with Iran over three Gulf islands, and allegations of continued Iranian attempts to harm Jordan’s security and stability, remain key issues dodging a full normalization of relations, according to officials. Both countries remained neutral in the US-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein; and surprisingly, Jordan—who supports the U.S. policies—shares a common view with Iran on the interim administration taking shape in Iraq. Both nations have expressed support for Iraq’s 25-member Governing Council as a first step toward rebuilding Iraq.

Tension surfaced over the next year and climaxed in 1993, when they engaged in tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats accused of activities beyond their mandates. Relations improved after Khatami’s first election victory, when the late King Hussein congratulated him and called him "our cousin." Abdullah took the throne in February 1999 and met with Khatami on the fringes of the millennium summit in New York a year later in 2000. Months later, he sent his wife, Queen Rania, on a visit to Tehran.

Although ties between Jordan and Iran improved dramatically after King Abdullah succeeded his father in February 1999; but a minor diplomatic spat last year fuelled tensions between them and Abdullah’s first trip two years ago was postponed, and Amman decided to recall its ambassador who was at the center of renewed tensions with Tehran. An Iranian newspaper said the envoy, Bassam Amush, had angered the Iranian authorities by accusing Tehran of "interfering in Jordan’s security issues." Weeks later, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher offered to hold quick talks to address the "misunderstanding". A Jordanian foreign ministry source has since stated that "We’re completely over it. It is completely behind us now". However Jordan has yet to replace Amush, who has retired, and has consistently played down the incident and Iranian officials also appeared eager to push it under the rug. "We hope that this visit will be a good beginning for the Jordanian and Iranian people and for Arab-Iranian relations and the region," Iran’s ambassador to Jordan, Nasratallah Tajik, told Al Dustour newspaper last week.