Illustrative image, by SANA
On October 10, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi confirmed that the Nasib border crossing between Syria and Jordan will be reopened once all necessary arrangements are agreed upon. However, Safadi didn’t set a date for the reopening of the crossing.
“The border will open after the technical committees end all the necessary arrangements and measures needed to guarantee opening the borders serves the common interests of the two countries,” Safadi said during a press conference after talks with his Lebanese counterpart, according to the Reuters news agency.
Last month, the Ministry of Transport of Syria said in an official statement that the Nasib crossing, which has been closed for around three years, has been fully restored and will be reopened October 10. Back then, the Jordanian side didn’t comment on the Syrian statement.
According to Reuters, Western diplomatic sources said that Amman is resisting “Russian pressure” to open the crossing as this would help Damascus to show that the war is ending. This will also be another gain for President Bashar al-Assad. The diplomats didn’t explain how Russia can pressure Jordan, which is a close ally of the US.
Contrary to the sources’ claims, local observers believe that the U.S. is the one that’s pressuring Jordan to keep the crossing close in order to increase its economical pressure on the Damascus government.
Many US officials have vowed to pressure Damascus economically through their allies in the Middle East and all over the world. Last month, Jim Jeffrey the U.S. special representative for Syria even threatened to “go after” the Damascus government and said that the U.S. will pursue “a strategy of isolation” against it.
