We won’t be battleground for Iran Israel fight, Jordanian foreign minister says

We spoke to the Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi as he was visiting Beirut.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: What is your peace proposal to Israel and will Jordan shoot down missiles if Israel fires at Iran in the coming days?

Ayman Safadi: First of all, we’ve said it very clearly, unequivocally, his majesty said it, we and the government said it – that Jordan will not be a battleground for anyone. And we will not allow anybody, to the extent that we can, to violate our sovereignty and threaten the safety of our citizens. That is our priority and we’ll continue to do everything we can to ensure that. And we deliver this message unequivocally to both Iran and Israel that Jordan will not be a battleground in an action and reaction engagement.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: So you will shoot down missiles?

Ayman Safadi: We will do whatever we can within our ability to protect our sovereignty and the safety of our people. In as far as your second part of the question, we’ve said all Arab countries, not just Jordan, that war will only produce more violence, more destruction, and will not produce security to anybody, not to the Israelis, not to the Palestinians, not to the Lebanese and nobody else. The only path to peace is ending the Israeli occupation of occupied Arab territory. Palestine, emergence of an independent sovereign Palestinian state on June 4th, 1967 lines – with occupied Jerusalem as capital – that would live in peace and security with Israel. We have a peace offer as an Arab country, but we don’t have a partner in Israel right now. We are…as I said in New York, our narrative is clear. We want a just and lasting peace that is consistent with international law. That will be the only path to guaranteeing the security of all. Ask Israeli officials what is their narrative, other than the continuation of the wars that we see on Gaza, the West Bank.