A Jordanian delegation led by Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held talks on Sunday with Syrian officials, as the two countries look to establish themselves as a possible alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iran war has thrust Syria, and to a lesser degree Jordan, into the limelight after the vital waterway was blocked since the start of the Iran war, affecting supplies worldwide and forced countries to seek alternatives.
The US and Iran moved closer on Sunday to signing a framework peace agreement that US President Donald Trump said would reopen the strait, although the timing and key details remain disputed.
Jordanian state TV reported that Mr Safadi and his team held “expansive talks” to boost “mutual co-operation” with Syria, with its delegation led by Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani. The transport ministers of both countries attended the talks.
A regional push is under way to promote and develop transport links between Saudi Arabia and Turkey through Syria and Jordan. If the project moves forward cargo would flow either by land directly to Europe, or to Syrian and Turkish ports, then on to Europe or elsewhere.
On April 7, Turkey, Jordan and Syria agreed to develop a “north-south” transport corridor, with a modernised motorway system that will eventually be linked to the Saudi railway network. Riyadh announced that a feasibility study for the railway section was to be completed by the end of this year.
Jordan's economy has been stagnant for 15 years. Syria's infrastructure and economy, hit by decades of mismanagement followed by the civil war from 2011 to 2024, are in dire need of investment. Transit fees could also become a source of hard currency for the cash-strapped government.
Jordan and Syria never had close ties during the 54-year rule of the Assad family. In April, King Abdullah II received a delegation of 15 Syrian ministers at a palace in Amman, underscoring the high stakes.
Mr Safadi said after the meeting in April that the main issues between the two countries comprise weapons and drug smuggling, water rights around a joint dam and stability in the southern Syrian province of Sweida. The region was gripped by violence last year that involved government forces, Bedouin fighters and Druze militias.
Syria became a major source of drugs, particularly the amphetamine Captagon, in 2018. But smuggling has decreased since former president Bashar Al Assad was toppled in December 2025.
Early last year Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq agreed to exchange information on the movement of illegal substances, after the Jordanian military killed four drug smugglers who tried to infiltrate the kingdom from Syria. They were the first such deaths on the border since the Assad regime was toppled and replaced with the government of President Ahmad Al Shara.
On Sunday, the Syrian Interior Ministry said counter-narcotics squads, in co-ordination with Iraqi security forces, have been carrying out raids in the central Homs province and Deir Ezzor in the east. Those raids have resulted in the dismantling of “an international narcotics network” and the arrest of several of its members, as well as seizure of drugs and weapons. The ministry published pictures of nine suspects who were arrested.
