Jordan says Jaber-Nassib border crossing with Syria will reopen this week

Jordan announced on Monday that a border crossing with Syria will be reopened this week, coinciding with the visit of a ministerial delegation from Damascus.

The Jaber-Nassib crossing in northwestern Jordan, which leads into Syria's Daraa province, will be reopened on Wednesday for freight and travelers, said Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya.

The minister said that security and health measures were being considered, following orders by Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh who visited the border post in early July.

Transport Minister Wajih Azaiza said that his ministry would discuss the flow of traffic between the two countries with a Syrian delegation visiting Amman on Monday.

Azaiza explained that Amman is working to ensure that Jordanian companies are not subject to any kind of sanctions as a result of working with Syrian companies.

A number of Syrian officials are targeted by the US-Caesar Act sanctions, which bars countries and companies from doing business with those accused of human rights abuses or helping fund the Syrian regime.

The border crossing - Jaber on the Jordanian side and Nassib on the Syrian side - has been closed and reopened repeatedly over the years because of the Syrian war and Covid-19 pandemic.

It was reopened periodically due to the frustration of Jordanian traders who have complained they cannot export their products.

Jordan last reopened the Jaber post in May after closing it for nine months due to the coronavirus epidemic.

It closed again in July due to unrest in Daraa, southern Syria, where an anti-regime revolt broke out.

Jordan has suffered massive economic losses due to the decade-old war in Syria disrupting trade and lockdowns due to Covid-19.