Rouhani, Jordan’s king meet for 1st time in 15 years

Iran’s president and Jordan’s king have reportedly held a brief meeting on the sidelines of a special summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Turkey.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the meeting between President Hassan Rouhani and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Istanbul on Friday.

In September 2003, Iran’s then president Mohammad Khatami met with King Abdullah in Tehran.

King Abdullah is a pro-Western monarch but Amman’s ties with the US and Saudi Arabia have recently been shaken over the issue of Palestine.

Riyadh’s reported coziness to Israel has worried Jordan which is in charge of the major Muslim shrine complex on the Temple Mount, the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Muslim nations protest US embassy move to al-Quds

Thousands of protesters in Jordan, Turkey and Indonesia protest against the upcoming US embassy move to al-Quds.

The relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds has infuriated Jordan, the custodian of Muslim holy sites in the occupied city.

Jordan is also part of the US-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria and Iraq since 2014 without a UN mandate. The coalition has repeatedly been accused of killing civilians and failing to eliminate Daesh.