21 June 2018•Update: 21 June 2018
By Laith Juneidi, Wassim Seifeddine and Hossam Sadiq
AMMAN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called for confronting what she described as Iran’s “aggressive” policies in the region.
“We need measures to confront Iran’s aggressive policies in the Middle East,” German daily Die Welt quoted Merkel as saying at a joint press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman.
According to the German leader, both Germany and Jordan remain deeply concerned about Iran’s missile program.
Nevertheless, Merkel said, the EU would like to remain a party to the landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and the P5+1 group on nations in 2015 -- despite Washington’s recent withdrawal from the agreement.
King Abdullah, for his part, said his country and Germany shared a “joint vision” for how to deal with regional and international crises.
Germany-Jordan cooperation in the security and defense fields, the king added, had contributed to ensuring security in “our two countries and the region”.
He went on to assert that the Israel-Palestine dispute remained the “main cause” of instability in the region, stressing Jordan’s and Germany’s longstanding support for a two-state solution to the crisis.
“Peace in the region cannot exist without a just and permanent settlement that includes a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the king said.
Merkel is currently on a Middle East tour that will also bring her to Lebanon later Thursday, where she is scheduled to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
After her meeting with King Abdullah, Merkel is slated to meet German military personnel who are currently stationed in Jordan as part of a U.S.-led coalition tasked with fighting the Daesh terrorist group.
