AMMAN: Jordanian jets downed dozens of Iranian drones flying across northern and central Jordan heading to Israel, triggering a warning from Tehran on Amman against aiding Israel.
Two regional security sources said the drones were brought down in the air on the Jordanian side of the Jordan Valley and were heading in the direction of Jerusalem.
Others were intercepted close to the Iraqi-Syrian border. They gave no further details.
The US military operating from undisclosed bases in the region also shot down a number of Iranian drones in Sweida and Daraa provinces in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, security sources told Reuters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in an attack that may trigger a major escalation between the regional archenemies.
Two regional security sources earlier said Jordan's air defenses were ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace.
They said the army was also in a state of high alert and radar systems were monitoring any drone activity coming from the direction of Iraq and Syria.
Iran, meanwhile, said it is watching Jordan for any moves in support of Israel during Tehran’s retaliatory attacks, warning the country may become the “next target,” a military source told the semi-official news agency Fars on Sunday.
“A military informed source said (we) are closely monitoring Jordan’s movements during the punitive attacks ... and if they participate in any possible action (to back Israel), they will be the next target,” Fars reported.
Residents in several cities in the northern part of the country near Syria and central and southern areas heard heavy aerial activity. A security source said the country’s air force was intensifying reconnaissance flights.
Jordan had earlier said it closed its airspace starting on Saturday night to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft in what officials told Reuters were precautionary measures in the event of an Iranian strike across its border.
“The relevant authorities took the decision to close the airspace for precautionary reasons as a result of the surrounding security situation,” Jordan’s government spokesperson Muhannad Mubaideen said.
Mubaideen denied media reports that the kingdom had announced a state of emergency, adding they were baseless and there was no cause for concern among its citizens.
Jordan neighbors Syria and Iraq – both countries where Iranian proxy forces operate – and also is next door to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
It has watched Israel’s war against the Palestinian group Hamas, another Iranian ally, with rising alarm for fear of getting caught in a crossfire.
Late last year, Amman asked Washington to deploy Patriot air defense systems to Jordan to bolster its border defenses.
Officials say the Pentagon had since increased its military aid to the kingdom, a major regional ally, where hundreds of US troops are based and hold extensive exercises with the army throughout the year.
In January, three US service members were killed and dozens wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border.
It was the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October, and marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.
