According to informed Jordanian sources, security authorities thwarted a suspicious plot led by the Iranian regime to smuggle weapons into the country, aiming to assist destructive activities.
“The weapons were sent by Iranian-backed militias in Syria to a cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan that has links to the military wing of Palestinian group Hamas, the people told Reuters. The cache was seized when members of the cell, Jordanians of Palestinian descent, were arrested in late March, they said.” Reuters wrote.
The two Jordanian sources, who preferred to remain anonymous due to security concerns, did not specify the types of weapons discovered and seized during the March raid. Nonetheless, it has been mentioned that in recent months, security services have thwarted numerous attempts by the Iranian regime and its allied groups to smuggle various weapons, including mines, explosives, Kalashnikov rifles, and 107mm Katyusha rockets.
“The alleged plot and arrests, reported here for the first time, come at a time of sky-high tensions in the Middle East, with an American-backed Israel at war in Gaza with Hamas, part of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ network of proxy groups built up over decades to oppose Israel,” according to the Reuters report.
They stated that the objective of this plot was to destabilize Jordan as a country that could potentially become a pivotal point in the Gaza crisis. Additionally, Jordan hosts a military base of the United States and shares borders with Israel, Syria, and Iraq, both of which are home to semi-militant groups supported by the Iranian government.
According to Jordanian sources, most of the covert flow of weapons into the country has been directed towards the Palestinian territories bordering the western coast, neighboring Israel’s occupation. However, some of the weapons, including those seized in March, were intended for use within Jordan by the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups and Hamas-linked paramilitary groups.
An informed source on security matters stated that they hide these weapons in pits called dead spots, using GPS to pinpoint their locations and taking photos of them, then instructing their operatives to retrieve them from those locations.
While members of the old guard of the Muslim Brotherhood have been operating legally in the Kingdom of Jordan for decades, Jordanian authorities believe that the Iranian regime and its allied groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah are attempting to recruit young and radical members of the Muslim Brotherhood towards their anti-Israeli and anti-American positions.
Another senior figure in Brotherhood, who also requested anonymity, told Reuters the arrested cell members “had been recruited by Hamas chief Saleh al-Arour.” Arouri was killed by a drone strike in Beirut in January in an attack widely attributed to Israel.
Jordanian authorities have not openly discussed the claim of an arms conspiracy and the arrests. However, one of the two informed sources mentioned that intelligence authorities have summoned several senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood to inform them that they have apprehended the sabotage cell, which acted as a communication bridge between their movement and Hamas.
Over the past year, Jordan has stated that it has thwarted many infiltrations attempts by pro-Iranian regime militias in Syria, who have crossed the borders of that country with rocket launchers and explosives, but some weapons have passed through undetected. The Iranian regime has denied involvement in the smuggling of military equipment.
