Jordan’s Hosting of U.S. Forces Draws Iranian Retaliation

For about three decades, Jordan has served as a vital base for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East.

Recently, Jordan has felt the repercussions. Over the past few days, Iran has stepped up its airstrikes on the kingdom, aiming at U.S. troops deployed there.

Despite sounding air raid sirens, Jordan has not moved to restrict the U.S. presence. Analysts say the kingdom’s deep reliance on American support prevents it from scaling back those military operations.

Jordan depends on the United States for billions of dollars in economic and military aid accumulated over decades, as well as for security in a volatile region.

Unlike oil‑rich Gulf Arab states, Jordan lacks natural resources and leans heavily on foreign assistance. Jordanian officials reported that the United States delivered $1.65 billion in economic and military aid last year.

While certain other U.S. allies in the region have limited Washington’s ability to station troops or conduct overflights during the Iran conflict, officials say Jordan lacks the leverage to impose similar restrictions.

“Jordan is a weak state in the Middle East,” said Sean Yom, a political science professor at Temple University and author of *Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible*. “It is small, encircled by regional threats, and relies on a great‑power patron; for generations the United States has filled that role.”

The aid Jordan receives from the United States, which dates back to the 1950s, is too substantial for any other donor to match, Yom added.

Since the United States and Israel began their campaign against Iran in late February, Tehran has retaliated by striking U.S. allies across the region. Early in the conflict, Iran focused on Israel and Gulf allies, but it also launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Jordan.

The fighting quickly damaged Jordan’s tourism sector, which accounts for up to 18 % of national revenue, just as the peak season began. Although most incoming missiles and drones were intercepted, airlines cancelled flights and prospective tourists withdrew hotel bookings.

As the U.S.–Iran cease‑fire frays, both sides have intensified their attacks, and Iran has broadened its target set in recent weeks. On Sunday, Jordanian air defenses intercepted three Iranian missiles, the military reported, while a fourth struck an uninhabited zone.

“This Iranian strategy of vertical escalation against its neighbors is intended to pressure those states—and, by extension, the United States,” said Hassan Almomani, director of the Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank that advises Jordan’s government on national security.

Iran recently claimed that some of its strikes on Jordan hit fuel tanks at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq—a key hub for the U.S. Air Force—and aircraft shelters at other installations, according to the semi‑official Fars News Agency. Earlier, Tehran said it had aimed at radar and communications systems used by U.S. forces.

On Friday, an Iranian strike on the Muwaffaq Salti base killed two U.S. soldiers and left a third missing. Earlier in the week, three additional attacks on American forces in Jordan wounded dozens of service members and damaged several Blackhawk helicopters.

U.S. forces have long used Jordanian air bases for operations ranging from the campaign against the Islamic State to training Syrian rebel fighters and supporting the Iraq invasion. A congressional report notes that nearly 4,000 American service members are presently stationed in the kingdom.

Muwaffaq Salti and other facilities have been modified to host a lasting U.S. presence.

“Jordan’s infrastructure has been quite robust from a U.S. perspective for some time,” said Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon Middle East adviser now senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, comparing it to a “land‑based aircraft carrier.”

Muwaffaq Salti’s relative remoteness lets U.S. forces operate discreetly, Rumley noted. Because Jordan lies farther from Iran than the Gulf states, American forces there enjoy additional reaction time against incoming missiles and drones, he added.

In the months preceding and during the early phase of the Iran conflict, the U.S. military relocated some troops from several Gulf Arab states to more secure locations in Jordan and neighboring Israel, officials said.

“The Iran conflict has underscored Jordan’s strategic value to the United States,” said Almomani. He added that this year Washington has boosted military assistance to Jordan by $500 million.

Jordanian officials regularly highlight the strategic importance of their ties with the United States. In an April call with President Trump, King Abdullah II underscored Washington’s key role in the Middle East, particularly regarding prospects for de‑escalating the Iran conflict.

Earlier this month, Jordan’s army chief, Maj. Gen. Yousef Hunaiti, met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Daniel Zimmerman to discuss broadening military cooperation, according to Jordan’s Petra state news agency.

The Jordanian government seldom comments publicly on the large U.S. military footprint. It has also refrained from openly criticizing U.S. airstrikes on Iran or the decision to join Israel in the war, although analysts say the government opposed the conflict from the outset.

Jordanian officials have repeatedly denounced Iran’s attacks on its territory. Last week Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi dismissed Iran’s claim that the strikes were justified by the presence of U.S. bases, calling it false.

“There are no American bases in Jordan,” he stated at an Aspen Security Forum panel. “We host American troops under a longstanding military cooperation agreement, and their presence is governed by a defense pact that fully respects Jordanian sovereignty.”

Despite the attacks, Jordan would not reconsider its alliance with the United States, Almomani said. “Under no circumstances can Jordan alter its strategic partnership,” he added.

There is little appetite in Jordan for reducing its dependence on the United States, Yom noted.

“No serious political stakeholder is proposing that Jordan replace the over $1.5 billion in annual economic and military aid it receives from the United States with EU or Chinese funding,” he said.

Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

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