Jordan asks US to deploy Patriot air defense missiles

(Patria) - US ally Jordan has asked Washington to deploy Patriot air defense systems to strengthen border defense amid heightened regional tensions and conflicts, said the country's army spokesman on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"We have asked the American side to help strengthen our defense system with Patriot air defense missile systems," Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, spokesman for the Jordanian army, told state television.

American Patriot missiles were stationed there in 2013, following the rebellion in neighboring Syria, as Jordan feared the war could spill over and ignite a regional conflict.

Hiyari denied social media reports that the Pentagon was using Jordanian bases to transport some equipment and weapons from its warehouses to Israel. The Pentagon has used Jordanian military installations in recent months, however, as
Washington has strengthened its military position in the region, Western diplomats say.

The United States has sent a significant amount of naval power to the Middle East in recent weeks, including two aircraft carriers, their support ships, and added thousands of soldiers to the region. Jordan has hundreds of American instructors and is one of the few regional allies that conducts extensive exercises with US troops throughout the year. The Jordanian army is one
of Washington's largest recipients of foreign military aid, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The kingdom has also requested additional assistance to combat drones used in the war on drugs along the border with Syria, for which Amman blames pro-Iranian militias that hold sway in southern Syria.

"Drones have become a threat on all our fronts," said army spokesman Hiyari.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Amman establish an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Program, to stop the infiltration of militants from Syria and Iraq.