Syrian regime delegation visits Jordan for energy talks

A Syrian ministerial delegation will visit Jordan on Monday to discuss economic cooperation.

Meetings between the Syrian delegation - which includes Damascus' energy, water, agriculture, and transport ministers - will meet with their Jordanian counterparts in Amman over the next two days.

Discussions over the transportation sector are expected to take place at the ministry of industry and trade.

"Opening trade between Jordan and Syria is a mutual interest for both sides. (We have) an economic interest as well as a political interest, consistent with Jordan's tendency to bring Syria back to the… Arab League, thus away from Iran," senate member and former minister Mohammad Al-Momani said in remarks to Arabic news site Arabi21.

He added that economic openness, especially in the field of energy, creates a state of mutual dependence that will help with stability.

Amman hosted a quartet meeting earlier this month between the Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Egyptian energy ministers to agree on the export of natural gas and electricity via Syria to energy-deprived Lebanon.

Monday's meeting is the latest in a series of high-profile meetings between Jordan and Syria. Both countries' foreign ministers met last week during the UN General Assembly in New York.

Though no official policy change has been announced, Amman has been taking steps towards mending its ties with Damascus in recent months, cut off since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

One of Jordan’s top strategic priorities in Syria is ensuring the security of its northern border and that Iranian-backed elements keep away from the frontier.