BICOM

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that work on a new US plan for Israel and the Palestinians is “fairly well advanced,” stressing Jordan’s key role in peacemaking in the Middle East.

Tillerson was speaking at a press conference with Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi as part of his five-country tour of the region.

Tillerson said: “For decades the US and Jordan have sustained a truly indispensable strategic partnership that has been critical to the security of both of our nations. Today we recognise the importance of that partnership by signing this new five-year memorandum of understanding.”

The new agreement will provide $6.4 bnaid to Jordan – approximately $1.275 bn a year annually over the next five years. The deals represents a 27 per cent increase in the US’s previous $1 bn annual commitment to Jordan, extending its duration from three to five years.

Tillerson said the agreement “highlights the pivotal role Jordan plays in helping foster and safeguard regional stability and supports US objectives such as the global campaign to defeat ISIS, counter-terrorism cooperation, and economic development”.

Safadi described Jordan and the US as “partners … committed to working together”. He said the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was the “only solution we believe can work,” though it was “under threat by unilateral Israeli actions”.

Tillerson said he had seen the the highly anticipated Trump peace plan, saying: “it’s been under development for a number of months. I have consulted with them on the plan, identified areas that we feel need further work,” but stopped short of providing any details.

Tillerson said that the US supports “a free, democratic Lebanon free of influence of others, and we know that Lebanese Hezbollah is influenced by Iran”. He acknowledged that Hezbollah’s influence is “unhelpful in Lebanon’s long-term future,” whilst saying that “we also have to acknowledge the reality that they also are part of the political process in Lebanon”.

Whilst in Jordan, Tillerson met Syrian opposition negotiators and discussed ways to move the UN peace process forward. He said the US and Turkey need to work in the same direction in Syria. He arrives in Turkey today for a two-day visit seeking to ease tensions with the US’s NATO ally. He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid heightened enmity between the two countries after Turkey’s ongoing military operation in northern Syria, where US Special Forces are based.