A day after Jordan announced it had foiled several sabotage plots targeting national security and claimed that some of the suspects had received training in Lebanon, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held a phone call with King Abdullah II to discuss the investigation into a suspected missile-manufacturing cell uncovered on Jordanian soil.
According to a statement from Lebanon’s presidency on Wednesday, Aoun expressed his full readiness to cooperate and coordinate with Jordan, and instructed Justice Minister Adel Nassar to liaise with his Jordanian counterpart. The aim, the statement said, is to facilitate information-sharing between the two countries’ security and judicial agencies.
In a separate statement posted on X, Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court said the two leaders discussed the importance of sustained coordination to counter any attempts to destabilise the region and preserve regional security.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also expressed support for Jordan during a phone conversation with Jordanian Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan on Tuesday.
He underscored that Lebanon “rejects being used as a base or launch point for any activity that threatens the security of sister or friendly nations”, and affirmed his country’s full solidarity with Jordan.
He also pledged to cooperate on matters related to reports that some of the suspects in the Jordanian plot may have received training in Lebanon.
Official Lebanese sources told The New Arab’s Arabic language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the matter was under active follow-up with Jordanian authorities, and that Lebanon was deeply committed to maintaining good relations with the world, especially with Arab states.
This, they said, reflects the vision laid out in President Aoun’s inaugural speech and the policy statement of Prime Minister Salam’s government. The sources stressed that Lebanon would refuse to be used as a base for actions that could endanger the security of any country or its citizens.
The comments came as Jordan formally charged and referred 16 suspects to the State Security Court on terrorism-related counts, following a months-long investigation led by the General Intelligence Department.
Military prosecutor Brigadier General Ahmad Talat Shalhaltouq confirmed on Wednesday that the suspects were charged with a range of offences, including attempting to manufacture weapons and drones for illegal use, smuggling arms, and recruiting individuals to carry out destabilising acts.
According to the official Jordanian news agency Petra, the suspects include individuals allegedly involved in manufacturing rockets and drones, storing explosives, and plotting attacks. Some were also charged with possessing and concealing a smuggled missile in a suburb of Amman.
Al-Momani said the suspects were affiliated with an “unlicensed and dissolved group” – widely understood to be a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood – and that Jordanian intelligence had been tracking the plots since 2021.
In response, the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan issued a statement denying any involvement, calling the accusations “unjust” and asserting that any actions cited by the government were individual efforts related to supporting resistance movements, not organisational initiatives.
The group reiterated its long-standing commitment to peaceful political engagement and national unity, saying it has always prioritised Jordan’s stability and security.
“We are part of the national fabric, and we believe that dialogue and cooperation between state institutions and society are essential for overcoming challenges,” the statement read.
