AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian security forces arrested three men on Monday for an attack on a Greek Orthodox Church that killed nine people and wounded more than two dozen last week. The arrest involved a shootout and all three men were wounded, officials said.
The Public Security Directorate said no member of the Jordanian forces was wounded in the dawn shootout in Karak, south of Jordan’s capital, Amman.
The attack on Friday in Karak, which is home to a minority Christian population, struck the Greek Orthodox Church during a funeral. Three men were reported to have taken part in the attack.
There has been no claim of responsibility, and no armed group has been accused of the attack.
Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya identified the three men as those responsible for the attack.
“The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act,” he said in a phone interview with state TV Al-Mamlaka. “They put up fierce resistance against the security forces, but were ultimately subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries.”
He added that there “are three individuals involved; they were identified early on in the wake of the terrorist incident, and the security services employed all the means at their disposal to apprehend them.”
King Abdullah II had ordered authorities to respond with “an iron fist” against what he called the outlaws of Islam and anyone attempting to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people.
“We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Relatives of the victims said the arrests brought them some relief.
“Despite the profound and immense tragedy, what happened today has eased our grief — and the grief of the Jordanian people — not just for us, the families of the martyrs," Khaled al-Borqan, himself a survivor of the attack and a relative of three of the people killed, told Al-Mamlaka.
“Despite the sadness and pain, the news brought us joy,” Fares Halaseh, an uncle of one of the victims and a survivor of the attack, told the TV station.
But the pain remains, he added. "We will not forget this agony for years to come.”
Jordanian honor guards carry a flag-draped coffin of on of the victims killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during their funeral procession in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
Armed Jordanian police officers patrol near mourners during the funeral of victims killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
Relatives mourn as they hold a framed portrait of a victim killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral ceremony in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
CAIRO (AP) — High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting between Iran and Israel and the United States, two regional officials said.
The talks come as many in Iran are girding themselves for the possible return to a return to all-out war, as Israeli and American leaders have been sharpening their threats ahead of pending elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, were to meet with Iran’s top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington.
The war in Yemen and strikes by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were topics also on the table, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
An Iranian official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, confirmed the arrival of the officials.
Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find “ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.”
Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the U.S., as part of ongoing efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, according to a regional official speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
Pakistan and Qatar helped broker an agreement in June aimed at having Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, ending a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and opening negotiations on a broader settlement addressing Iran’s nuclear program. The deal unraveled quickly, however, as both sides renewed attacks.
With worries about renewed fighting ahead of Israel's election on Tuesday and the Nov. 3 midterm elections in the U.S., Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, on the weekend said Tehran had not closed the window of diplomacy and that messages were being passed to the U.S. via intermediaries.
With negotiations long stalled, Baghaei said that the U.S. appears to be persisting in unilateral demands and that Trump and U.S. officials repeatedly use the phrase “complete surrender,” which Baghaei said no Iranian accepts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meantime, repeated his warning on Sunday that Iran or its proxies could attack ahead of the close elections to disrupt the vote, citing intelligence.
“The (military) is ready both to defend and to strike,” he said in a video statement, adding: “You will suffer disproportionate blows far greater than you can imagine.”
Israel’s Channel 12 reported Sunday night that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff clashed over an instruction by Netanyahu to carry out an “action” that the army believes could quickly trigger a resumption of the conflict with Iran.
Netanyahu described the Channel 12 report as nonsense during an appearance on another broadcaster, Channel 14. There was no immediate military comment.
Yemen has become a widening front in the Iran war that began in February, with the Houthis increasingly launching attacks on Saudi Arabia because it supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government battling the rebels.
The conflict has intensified since forces from the internationally recognized government and Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped the fighting in the country’s civil war.
Early Monday, the Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the rebel group had fired ballistic missiles at military gatherings and weapons depots belonging to Saudi-backed government forces in Aden and Lahj provinces. He claimed the attacks caused the loss of military equipment and personnel but did not provide evidence of the strikes.
The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims.
Associated Press journalists Victoria Eastwood and Fatma Khaled in Cairo, Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this story.
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at McMorran Place Arena in Port Huron, Mich., Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
A screen projects an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his main rival, opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar ("Straight") party, during a campaign rally for Eisenkot ahead of Israel's general election, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A bird flies low over the water as cargo ships lie at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, early Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
