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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan is prepared to deal with the possibility of a chemical warfare emanating from neighboring Syria, Jordan's Prime Minister said on Monday.

Premier Abdullah Ensour said during a press conference on Monday that the threat of a chemical war in Syria is possible, emphasizing the threat that such use of chemical weapons may spread to Jordanian territories.

As UN investigators are currently in Syria to probe reports of use of chemical weapons, "so apparently there is the threat of chemical weapons... and we must take precautionary measures," Ensour said in reference to the team of 10 UN inspectors that arrived on Sunday in Damascus.

Ensour stressed that Jordan's request from the United States to provide manned US surveillance aircraft, announced last week during a visit by General martin Dempsey, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is aimed to protect Jordanian citizens of any possible dangers emanating from neighboring Syria, and to protect the over 320,000 Syrian refugees currently being hosted in the Zaatari camp in northeastern Jordan and other camps.

The United States is providing Jordan with technical assistance against any possible chemical threat from neighboring Syria, Ensour said, adding that US teams are coordinating and helping Jordan in training to prepare for any possible chemical threat.

The US administration decided earlier in June to deploy F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems in Jordan, along with over 700 troops in an effort to protect Jordan, a close Arab ally of the US.

The premier emphasized that Jordan will need US technical assistance as long as the war in Syria is still raging, noting that "we do not know how long the war there will last."

Jordan's relationship with the Syrian opposition stems from the stance taken by the Arab group, Ensour said during the press conference, clarifying that Jordan has a strong long-standing relationship with neighboring Syria based on close geographic proximity and familial and historic relations that dictate for Jordan to deal with the crisis "not as a mine field, but rather as a nuclear bomb field."

"This compels Jordan to measure its position [towards the Syrian crisis] very carefully," Ensour said.

He added that since the outset of the crisis in Syria, "Jordan has not taken any position that it regrets," Ensour said.