Jordan, US negotiating new assistance package — source

AMMAN — The US is in ongoing discussions with officials over Jordan’s request for a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) on aid to the Kingdom, an unnamed source at the US embassy in Amman said Saturday.

The source told The Jordan Times that the US is the single largest donor to Jordan.

“The United States is in ongoing discussions with Jordanian officials over Jordan’s request for a new MoU, and we look forward to continuing our extraordinary partnership with Jordan,” said the embassy source.

The remarks in response to questions by The Jordan Times come days after US President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold “billions” of dollars of US aid from countries which vote in favour of a United Nations’ resolution rejecting any recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Jordan was one of 128 countries that recently voted in favour of the resolution supporting the longstanding international consensus that the status of Jerusalem can only be settled as an agreed final issue in a peace deal.

Spokesman of the Department of State Heather Nauert has recently indicated that “the UN vote is really not the only factor that the administration would take into consideration in dealing with our foreign relations and countries who have chosen to vote one way or the other”.

According to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, US assistance to the Kingdom in 2017 amounted to $1.3 billion, including military assistance. 

The amount of US assistance provided to Jordan in 2016 reached an unprecedented level, standing at $1.275 billion (around JD904 million), according to the ministry figures.