In an April 20, 2023 phone conversation between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, it was agreed that the two countries would move towards normalization and address various points of contention between them, including the drug trafficking by Iran-backed elements across the Syria-Jordan border.

Jordan's Official News Agency Petra: The Sides Will Act To Fully Normalize Relations

According to reports by Jordan's official news agency Petra, the phone conversation between the foreign ministers of Jordan and Iran dealt with "ways to handle several bilateral issues between the countries." The Jordanian minister, Ayman Al-Safadi, stressed that "Jordan, like all the Arab countries, is interested in good relations with Iran, based on principles of neighborliness, non-interference in internal affairs, and cooperation, which is beneficial to both countries and to the region." He called to "continue practical, transparent and sincere talks in order to address all the pending issues, including the situation on the Jordan-Syria border and the challenges posed by the smuggling of drugs into Jordan [by Iran-backed elements on the Syrian side of the border]."

According to the report, the ministers agreed "to advance the security talks between the countries [which began, with Iraqi mediation, in the summer of 2022] and address the issues pending between them. [The ministers agreed] to maintain their political contacts in order to reach understandings that will lay the foundations for the future relations [between the countries]… that will contribute to enhancing the security, stability and cooperation in the region."

Also according to the Petra report, the ministers agreed to meet soon "in order to continue discussing ways to overcome the challenges in the relations between the two sister countries, with an eye to fully normalizing the relations in a way that will serve both countries' interests and contribute to ending the crises and tensions in the region." The Jordanian minister welcomed the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, calling it "a major step towards resolving the tensions in the region and strengthening security and stability." The Iranian minister, for his part, stressed that "Iran seeks to develop its relations with Jordan and appreciates Jordan's role in the region." The ministers relayed mutual Eid Al-Fitr greetings by their heads of state, and also discussed the Palestinian issue.

Iran's news agency ISNA reported that Abdollahian expressed appreciation for Jordan's efforts in supporting the Palestinian people and the holy sites in Jerusalem, and said that "the Zionist apartheid state is the greatest threat to the region and the Islamic nation." He also emphasized the need for Islamic unity and for a full realization of the Palestinians' rights, while stressing that "the Zionists' hands [reaching for] Al-Aqsa must be chopped off." According to ISNA, the Jordanian minister "declared his country's willingness to develop the ties between [Jordan and Iran]" and that "Iran is an important country in the region and we ascribe great importance to developing the ties with it."[5]  

Raialyoum.com: It Was The Saudi Crown Prince Who Initiated The Jordan-Iran Rapprochement, "In Coordination With U.S."

The online pan-Arab daily Raialyoum.com reported, citing "U.S. diplomats and experts," that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) is the one who "engineered" the rapprochement between Jordan and Iran "in coordination with American institutions and figures" that green-lighted the move. The report also claimed that the issue of Jordan-Iran rapprochement had been discussed at an April 20 meeting between MBS and Jordan's King 'Abdullah during the latter's latest visit to Saudi Arabia.

The Qatari London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi assessed that Jordan, which recalled its ambassador from Tehran in 2016 in protest over the attack on the Saudi embassy there, intends to appoint a new ambassador to Iran. The two countries, it added, are likely to reach security understandings "on pending issues," chief of them the distancing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) forces to at least 40 km from the Syria-Jordan border, and tighter oversight of the Iran-backed elements to prevent drug trafficking from Syria into Jordan.

Media reports also indicate that, on April 13, a week before the phone conversation between the foreign ministers, the Iranian embassy in Amman held a festive iftar (evening meal ending the daily Ramadan fast) attended by Jordanian politicians and journalists. Events of this kind were held in previous years as well. But, according to Raialyoum.com, since the signing of the Saudi-Iranian agreement, Ali Asghar Nasseri, the Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in Jordan, who organized the iftar,  "is able to act with greater freedom and with fewer limitations as [Iran's] diplomatic representative" in Jordan.