ALBAWABA - Jordan's King Abdullah's on NATO has been trending all over the social media. They are being tweeted, reposted and talked about.
Locally, in Jordan his interview to CNBC Anchor and Senior International Correspondent Hadley Gamble has talked about briefly by the Jordan Times and the Petra News Agency.
What was interesting about the interview and got everyone talking was what he said about supporting the formation of a NATO-style military alliance in the Middle East region according to Anadolu.
Jordan's king tells @_HadleyGamble he would support a Middle East version of NATO @CNBC https://t.co/dbjSWALpJu
— Emma Graham (@themmagraham) June 24, 2022
“The kingdom works actively with NATO and sees itself as a partner of the alliance, having fought shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO troops for decades,” he said in an interview with CNBC network.
The Jordanian monarch expressed his desire to see “more countries in the area come into that mix,” as quoted in the Turkish based news agency.
“I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO,” he added.
"I'm hoping what you’re seeing in 2022 is this new vibe, I guess, in the region to say, ‘How can we connect with each other and work with each other?'" Jordan's King Abdullah told @_HadleyGamble of @CNBCi - via @abigailngwy https://t.co/pbMaPC3Frk
— Ted Kemp (@TedKempCNBC) June 24, 2022
However, the King made clear that before that happens he said the vision and mission statement for such a military alliance must “be very clear, and its role should be well defined,” adding as well that Arab countries need to help each other, stressing that "insecurities and instability in the region will affect regional projects,” he was quoted as saying.
He stressed “the goal needs to be a win-win solution,” but added “Israel-Palestinian conflict has the potential to derail plans and cooperation in the Middle East,” pointing out that “if they’re not talking to each other, that creates insecurities and instability in the region that will affect regional projects,” he added according to Anadolu.
🇯🇴#Jordan’s king says he would support Middle East version of NATO with clear mission
— Aimen Jamil (@jamil_aimen) June 25, 2022
📍Jordan’s monarch has announced he would support the formation of a Middle East military alliance similar to the US-led NATO
As for Tehran, the Jordanian king Abdullah put a "question mark" on "Iran's role in the region” and made clear that “nobody wants war, nobody wants conflict,” he said. “But it remains to be seen whether countries in the Middle East can work toward a vision where prosperity is the name of the game,” the Turkish news agency reported.
King Abdullah’s interview comes ahead of a planned summit between US President Joe Biden and Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia in the middle of July which is to take place on the Red Sea resort of Jeddah.
