Al-Shaibani: Syrian-Jordanian relations are at their best in decades

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that Syria's security and stability are important to Jordan and are a pillar of regional stability.

Al-Safadi added, during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Al-Shaibani, in Damascus, that Jordan is working with Syria to build the future of a free, safe, and stable Syrian state.

He continued: “We regret the civilian victims who died in the Daraa incident and offer our sincere condolences to their families. Syrian blood is as precious as Jordanian blood, and the security committee met and agreed to determine working mechanisms for coordination in combating terrorism.”

The Jordanian Foreign Minister affirmed: “We are proud of what we have accomplished so far, and we will continue the process of cooperation between Jordan and Syria,” pointing to the signing of 11 agreements to “strengthen the process of integration between Jordan and Syria.”

Al-Safadi reaffirmed his country's condemnation of the Israeli attacks on Syrian territory.

For his part, Al-Shaibani described Syrian-Jordanian relations as “at their best in decades,” stressing Damascus’s keenness to strengthen relations with Jordan in various fields.

He said: “We agreed with Jordan to rehabilitate the international road between the two countries at a cost of $47 million, as well as raise the capacity and efficiency of the Nassib border crossing.”

He added: “A joint security and technical committee has been formed to investigate the facts and determine the circumstances of what happened in Daraa, and work is underway to redress the damage and compensate the innocent victims who fell as a result of the targeting in Daraa.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi launched what observers in Baghdad described as an “open battle” against the armed factions, and pledged that he “would not keep them.”

Al-Zaidi said, during his visit to “Sadr City” on Saturday evening, “I will never keep those who carry weapons,” adding that “if someone else kept them, it would be because he was benefiting from them.”

Al-Zaidi’s words came the day after a violent attack launched by the “Hezbollah Brigades” on him and his brother, after he directed on Saturday to cancel the contracts of 3 companies at “Mosul Airport” because of their links to armed parties.

This was accompanied by the Badr Organization, an ally of Tehran, expressing its “anger” at statements made by Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein regarding the closure of land crossings with Iran, with the exception of only two crossings, “at the official request of the United States.” The organization called for “opening the closed ports immediately,” and threatened that “our people and their national forces will not stand idly by.”

Sources reported on Sunday that production had stopped in the Khor Mor gas field in Iraq, one of the largest fields in the Kurdistan region, after it was targeted in a drone attack.

Two sources in the Ministry of Electricity in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq said that the field’s production stopped after a drone targeted a liquefied petroleum gas storage tank, causing a fire that is still raging. Two security sources said that smoke was seen rising from the field. The two sources in the ministry stated that field workers were evacuated to safe places inside the facility following the attack.

The Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ali al-Zaidi, said that the initial assessment indicates that the attack did not result in human casualties. A joint statement issued by the Ministries of Natural Resources and Electricity in the Kurdistan Region described the attack as “terrorist,” stressing that the two ministries are working to reduce its repercussions to a minimum. No party claimed responsibility for the attack.

The field provides gas supplies needed to generate electricity in the region. The Ministry of Electricity in Iraqi Kurdistan said in a statement that the attack led to the loss of about 2.8 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity in the region.

Dana Gas, which participates in operating the field, had suspended the main production facilities in the field earlier in July due to credible security threats and regional tensions, before resuming production later in the same month.

Iraq was among the countries most affected by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains disrupted as ships continue to face attacks in the area. Baghdad is striving to achieve balance in its relations with neighboring Iran and the United States in the midst of the military escalation between the two countries.

However, Tehran has launched attacks against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq, while Iranian-backed militants in Iraq launched attacks against its Gulf neighbors earlier in the conflict.