Jordan's top diplomat to make rare visit to Iran as regional tensions soar

Jordan’s foreign minister is traveling to Iran on what would be the first official visit by a senior official of the close U.S. ally in two decades

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Jordan's foreign minister is expected in Iran on Sunday, as the United States and its Arab allies try to prevent a wider war after the back-to-back killings of top Iran-allied militants sparked vows of revenge against Israel.

Ayman Safadi would be the first senior Jordanian official to pay an official visit to Iran in over 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran toward Israel in April. Iran said it was retaliating for the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria.

Many fear Iran and its regional allies could launch a similar attack following the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in an Israeli strike on Beirut last week and of Hamas' top political leader in an explosion in Tehran a day later. Both attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which has acknowledged killing the Hezbollah commander. Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have vowed to avenge the killings.

Safadi “will deliver a message from His Majesty King Abdullah II to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the situation in the region and bilateral relations," Jordan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Safadi is expected to meet with his counterpart, Ali Bagheri Khan, and other senior officials in Tehran later on Sunday, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The last time a senior Jordanian official traveled to Iran on an official visit was in 2004 when then-Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez went to Tehran.

Last week, Jordan sent a lower-ranking official to the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was also in Tehran to attend the ceremony, died in an explosion that Iranian authorities have said was caused by a short-range projectile.

Jordan, which borders Israel to the east, would likely be in the path of any Iranian retaliatory strike.

Jordan cooperates with American forces under the umbrella of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and works closely with other militaries, including those of Israel and Saudi Arabia.