King Abdullah II of Jordan has appointed a new head of the military, bringing in a younger officer as the kingdom remains under Iranian aerial attack.
Maj Gen Majdi Al Harasis, born in 1971, was appointed as the new chief of staff of the armed forces on Wednesday under a royal decree. Maj Gen Al Harasis, who headed Jordan's military intelligence from 2022 to 2025, replaces Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti, who is in his late 60s.
Mr Al Huneiti, who has an air force background, retired and was promoted to Lt Gen, a way for Jordan to express its satisfaction with his performance.
In a letter to Maj Gen Al Harasis, King Abdullah described him as a dedicated soldier and an "exceptional officer" in an army that is "working day and night to safeguard Jordan’s land and skies, and counter any threat that targets the nation’s capabilities".
Jordan has come under frequent Iranian missile and drone attacks since the Iran war broke out in late February. Iran said the strikes targeted bases and compounds housing US forces. No Jordanian fatalities have been reported in the attacks.
In the past week, Iran said it had fired several missile barrages against US military targets in Jordan, during the latest escalation of the conflict. No casualties were reported. An Iranian attack in July on an air base in Azraq, east of Amman, killed three US military personnel.
Balancing act
The Jordanian military works closely with the US, the main arms supplier and trainer for its 100,000-strong army. The kingdom also hosts several thousand American troops under a 2021 defence pact. The US military, with other western powers, has helped Jordan over the past decade to fortify its borders with Syria, the region's main exporter of the illicit Captagon amphetamine.
Jordan receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year in undisclosed US security assistance, as well as aid for civilian projects and annual cash injections into the state budget. In July, the two countries signed a trade deal that sharply lowers tariffs on US exports to Jordan.
The kingdom also engages in security co-operation with Israel, as stipulated by the 1994 peace treaty between the two countries. However, King Abdullah has strongly criticised Israel for its actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Jordanian authorities have intensified a crackdown on dissent since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, and imposed limits on protests in support of Palestinians that were mainly organised by the Muslim Brotherhood and its sympathisers.
In April, Jordan banned the group after a dozen of its members were implicated in an alleged armed plot against the kingdom's security.
Several weeks before the outbreak of the war, King Abdullah ordered structural changes to the country's military to cope with technological changes and "expanding areas of operations".
In his letter, the King told Maj Gen Al Harasis to "continue the efforts of restructuring our Armed Forces ... while modernising its tools, to face emerging challenges and threats with the utmost efficiency".
