Originally Posted by
Buster Hyman
My first thought would be the fine line Jordan walks in the ME. Directly involving themselves against Iran puts them firmly on one side, allowing the drones through their airspace unhindered puts them on the other. Allowing the RAF to do the work keeps them in the shady side of the politics in that part of the world.
I don't think it's that fine a balance for them to strike in this instance. The principle of sovereignty would allow them to down any Iranian weapons over their territory while maintaining a neutral stance. That's not a remotely contested concept in diplomacy and they'd be on very firm ground. Granting the UK diplomatic clearance and policy permissions to act in that way over its territory and (presumably) agreeing to the UK declaring its role publicly is tantamount to the same thing in any case. Iran could choose to make things difficult for the Jordanians by highlighting that, or by declaring that they'd sought permission for the weapons to overfly and been refused; they don't seem to have done that yet. The politics of the region are a constraint on Iran as well, of course.