Illustrative image, by the Syrian Arab News Agency
On September 26, a source familiar with the situation told the al-Ghad newspaper that Jordan and Syria will reopen the strategic Nasib border crossing in the first half of October. The Jordanian newspaper said that several technical committees had visited the Jordanian part of the crossing and inspected its readiness over the last few weeks.
A day earlier, Syria’s Prime Minister Imad Khamis announced that the Syrian part of the crossing, which is located in the southern Daraa countryside, had been restored. According to Khamis, the Jordanian government had asked Syria to announce this officially.
“This crossing will be invested in accordance with the national interest,” said Khamis and pointed out that the Syrian government “has taken steps on the issue of transit, which will benefit economic returns.”
A coalition of the al-Qaeda branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front, now known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured the Nasib crossing on April 1, 2015. Less than three years later, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) recaptured the crossing during its large-scale military operation in southern Syria.
The Nasib crossing is one of the key economic routes, which link the Mediterranean Sea with the Persian Gulf. Jordan and Syria are expected to earn billions of dollars from shipping annually once the crossing is reopened. The reopening of the crossing will also facilitate the return of Syrian refugees from Jordan.
