Jordan and Syria sign agreements, show united front weeks after deadly airstrikes

Amman and Damascus mend ties with slew of cooperation agreements: Two weeks after Jordanian strikes killed seven people in Syria’s Deraa, the two countries agreed to jointly investigate the airstrikes and signed 11 cooperation documents on Monday. Officials from the two countries agreed to set up a joint security and technical panel to examine the incident, which Jordan says targeted Islamic State fighters who were responsible for a church shooting in Jordan.

The agreements — eight MoUs, two executive programs, and one protocol — cover investment, water and cloud seeding, food security, civil aviation, and a proposed rail link connecting Saudi Arabia to Turkey through both countries, according to a joint statement from the Higher Coordination Council. On energy, gas has reached Syrian power plants through Jordan since January, and the two sides are studying compressed gas from Jordan’s Risha field for factories in southern Syria.

The commercial payload is at the border: The council backed a plan to run the Nassib-Jaber crossing — which Syria briefly closed following the Jordanian strikes — around the clock with separate truck and passenger lanes, and agreed to widen transport exemptions to cut delays and cargo transshipment. For Gulf exporters, using the overland route to Turkey and Europe, faster crossings and fewer forced cargo transfers are top priorities.

The bigger projects are still on paper: The proposed rail corridor awaits technical studies, cost estimates and financing, with a Saudi feasibility study due by year-end, and Syria is pitching priority projects to its reconstruction investment fund and donors.