30 June 2022; MEMO: There are no plans for a military alliance in the region that includes Israel, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
"This issue is not on the agenda of the US President Joe Biden's visit to the region," Al-Safadi said, stressing: "There is no Arab alliance that Israel will be part of. There have been no proposals for such a thing."
Several news agencies have reported Israeli and American officials saying that Israel and a number of Arab states have been working on the creation of a joint military alliance backed by the US to act against Iran.
Early this week, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said: "We are building our wide partnership with additional countries in the region to ensure a secure, stable and prosperous Middle East. Among other things, this also includes aerial defence."
He also said: "We will strengthen this, as a stable Middle East is an international, regional and Israeli interest of the highest order."
Al-Safadi said that his country supports any joint Arab initiative, including military, defence or economic ones.
During the interview with Al Jazeera, Al-Safadi reiterated the centrality of the Palestinian issue, the importance of the Syrian cause and the necessity of security for Gulf States.
"We have challenges that push us to work together," he said, "and we will talk to the US about all of these things."
He also said that the Arab states want stable relations with Iran, but the reasons for tension should be resolved in order to achieve this.
