Sixteen arrested as authorities say they have foiled a plot that involved explosives and a drone factory.
Jordan says it has arrested 16 people, thwarting a plot that threatened national security and that involved manufacturing and importing rockets illegally, explosives and a drone production site.
In a statement on Tuesday, the General Intelligence Department said it uncovered plans to recruit and train “operatives” in Jordan and neighbouring Lebanon.
A drone factory was also found, according to the statement that was released on state media.
The suspects were referred to the state security court for trial, it added.
Authorities later said at least one rocket was ready to be launched as part of an operation that had been under surveillance by security forces since 2021.
A security source said the suspects were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group, while the head of the cell who trained some of its members was based in Lebanon.
The Brotherhood have been accused of instigating street protests in Jordan, which has a large Palestinian population. In recent months, thousands were regularly protesting Israel’s deadly assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, which has so far killed more than 50,000 people, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“We are talking about new tactics, rockets and drones. This means a complete change in the way the Muslim Brotherhood are dealing with Jordan and targeting its security,” Amer Al Sabaileh, a prominent security analyst, said.
Government spokesperson Mohammad al Momani told a press briefing the government would be airing full confessions from the suspects, some of whom had been trained in Lebanon.
The rockets found in a secret hideout on the outskirts of the capital, Amman, were being manufactured with a 3 to 5 kilomeetre range for use against targets inside the kingdom, Momani added.
Over the past year, Jordan said it foiled attempts to smuggle weapons by infiltrators linked to pro-Iranian groups in Syria and Lebanon-based Palestinian groups.
They claimed some of the arms were bound for the neighbouring Israeli-occupied West Bank, adding that they have arrested several Jordanians linked to Palestinian groups.
Security officials said the incidents were terrorism-related based on the quantities of explosives found. They said the plot was linked to Iran and its allies’ clandestine efforts to recruit agents to carry out acts of sabotage within the kingdom to destabilise one of Washington’s allies in the region.
Jordan has over 3,500 American troops stationed in several bases and, since Israel’s assault in Gaza began in October 2023, it has been increasingly targeted by Iranian-backed groups operating in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.
Last year, Jordan shot down over its territory retaliatory missiles fired from Iran towards Israel. This angered many of Jordan’s citizens, including those who are descendants of Palestinians who were forced out of their lands during the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 war.
