Jordan foils Iran backed terrorist plot

(MENAFN- Arab News) AMMAN: Jordan's state media say the security forces have arrested a man with purported links to an Iranian group on suspicion he planned to carry out terror attacks in the Kingdom.
The government-owned Al-Rai newspaper says security forces seized 45 kg of high-grade explosives in the case and that it was the biggest haul in Jordan a decade.
The daily says the suspect who was arrested in northern Jordan holds both Iraqi and Norwegian citizenship. Al-Rai and the state news agency Petra say the suspect has ties with an Iranian group called Beit Al-Maqdis but did not elaborate.
Despite similarities in the name the Iranian-backed group is reportedly unrelated to Egyptian militant group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis which recently changed its name after pledging allegiance to Daesh.
'This is the most serious case in a decade in terms of the quantity of explosives discovered and their quality' said a source adding that a major terror operation had been averted. The source did not say when he was detained.
A state security court held its first hearing in the case Monday and issued a gag order. Government spokesman Mohammed Momani refused to comment.
Iran's Quds Force the foreign operations arm of its Revolutionary Guards is charged with carrying out missions abroad.
Tehran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad who has accused Jordan of aiding rebel groups fighting his forces in Syria.
Jordan is hosting a US-run program to train Syrian rebels to fight against Daesh and has said it is training some tribal groups in Syria.
Jordan has been on high alert for possible terror attacks on its soil.