Syria and Jordan

Relations between neighbours Jordan and Syria have ancient roots as Jordan was historically the southern part of Syria. The two states were created after the First World War from former Ottoman dominions by way of a secret bilateral agreement between Britain and France.

Syrian Civil War
In 2012, relations became somewhat strained due to the Syrian civil war; reports emerged of Jordanian forces clashing with Syrian forces along the border.

On 26 May 2014, Jordan expelled Syrian ambassador Bahjat Suleiman who, according to Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Sabah al-Rafie, was declared persona non grata because of "continued offensive statements, through his personal contacts or writing in the media and the social media, against the kingdom."

Jordan is part of the American-led intervention in Syria, and has established a "special working mechanism" to coordinate its involvement there with the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War.

Although Jordan initially supported the moderate rebel coalition known as the Southern Front, it later pressured the United States to freeze the CIA's armament support for them. Jordan is said to support the New Syrian Army, but has stated the objective of that group is to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, not the Syrian government.

Why was the bilateral agreement had to be secret between France and Britain?
Many sources contend that Sykes-Picot conflicted with the Hussein–McMahon Correspondence of 1915–1916 and that the publication of the agreement in November 1917 caused the resignation of Sir Henry McMahon. There were several points of difference, the most obvious being Iraq placed in the British red area and less obviously, the idea that British and French advisors would be in control of the area designated as being for an Arab State. Lastly, while the correspondence made no mention of Palestine, Haifa and Acre were to be British and the brown area (a reduced Palestine) internationalised.