"It is enough to be stupid" — Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev once recounted that he received a call from Joseph Stalin, the most powerful leader of the Soviet Union, inviting him to attend a Cabinet meeting on an important matter. Upon arrival, Stalin informed Khrushchev and the other Cabinet members that a conspiracy was threatening the Soviet Union. He explained that they had a factory producing tires, gifted years earlier by the American Ford Motor Company, which had been operating successfully. However, for about six months, a serious issue had emerged: these tires were exploding after only a few kilometers of use.
Stalin assigned Khrushchev the task of uncovering the root of the problem. After an exhaustive investigation — examining production materials, machinery, workers on the production lines, the supply chains, storage facilities, distribution networks, and even consulting with Ford engineers — Khrushchev found no answers.
Just as he was nearing despair, he noticed a wall at the factory entrance displaying a "Hall of Fame" — photographs of employees honored each month. One engineer had been leading the list for six consecutive months, precisely the same period during which the tire explosions began. Summoning the engineer to his office, Khrushchev asked what he had done to deserve such prolonged recognition. The engineer proudly explained that he had saved the state thousands of rubles by reducing the amount of metal used in tire production.
Khrushchev immediately realized the truth: this engineer, rewarded for his cost-cutting, was in fact responsible for the catastrophic failures. By reducing the wire content in the tires, he had saved the state a modest sum but caused immense financial losses and — far worse — cost many lives due to accidents resulting from tire blowouts.
Khrushchev submitted his report to Stalin, who asked, "Where did you bury the corpse of this fool as punishment for the losses he caused?" Khrushchev replied, "We couldn't execute someone we had just honored a month ago. Instead, we exiled him to the frozen wilderness of Siberia, where people would eventually forget about him. Executing him would have raised public suspicion about a possible conspiracy and provoked countless questions and rumors — something we preferred to avoid."
Thus, Khrushchev concluded with his famous remark:
"It is not necessary for someone to be corrupt or a thief to harm us and destroy us; it is enough for him to be stupid."
Recent Events in Jordan
On Tuesday, April 15, 2025, the official spokesperson for the Jordanian government announced the arrest of a group of sixteen individuals accused of forming an armed group in Jordan. Some of them were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned in 2020 but allowed to operate under the guise of the Islamic Action Front in an attempt to circumvent the law and contain the group's substantial influence in Jordan.
The group was found to possess high-explosive materials, modern machines for manufacturing rockets and drones, and had received training from Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with financial backing from both. According to the Jordanian intelligence service, surveillance of the group had started back in 2021 — two years before the "Al-Aqsa Flood" — indicating that the preparations were intended for internal Jordanian operations rather than cross-border attacks, at least at this stage.
Investigations concluded that the foundation of this activity was aimed at creating internal instability. The case is now in the hands of the judiciary, and many questions raised by the public await answers during the upcoming court proceedings.
Iran's Strategic Pursuits in the Region
There is broad consensus that one of the fundamental strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its so-called "Axis of Resistance" is to establish footholds in all countries surrounding Israel. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Quds Force have been tasked with executing these policies for years, finding success in places like Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, due to a mixture of resistance narratives and religious/sectarian factors. However, they failed in Egypt and Jordan, primarily because of the strong cohesion of the two states' militaries and security services.
Yet Iran has never abandoned its attempts. As a state with ambitions beyond the norm, it seeks to become the "third head" of the regional power structure, alongside Turkey and Israel. To bargain with these powers and their international backers, Iran needs real ground forces and alliances in the region, bolstered by compelling religious or historical narratives — with the Palestinian cause providing the perfect platform that intertwines both.
The Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian Infiltration Attempts
Iran's efforts to spread Shi'ism in these countries failed miserably, so it resorted to building bridges with existing extremist movements. It initially collaborated with global jihadist groups like Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt — countries without significant Shiite populations. However, their influence remained limited.
Eventually, Iran found a way to establish understandings with the Muslim Brotherhood — the Sunni Islamist group that had traditionally been hostile to Shiism. Interests and mutual benefits overcame doctrinal disputes, leading to conceptual changes within both camps. Hamas, the Palestinian offshoot of the Brotherhood, spearheaded this rapprochement, easing the psychological barriers and encouraging broader acceptance among their followers.
Nonetheless, a portion of the traditional Sunni movement remained outside this framework of mutual interests.
The Brotherhood's Strategic Miscalculations in Jordan
The global Muslim Brotherhood is a diverse movement with conflicting currents — some inclined toward peaceful coexistence, others toward armed struggle. Iran heavily invested in the jihadist faction, particularly through Hamas, seeking an entry point to influence the broader Brotherhood. This included efforts like publishing Sayyid Qutb's books through Iran's Supreme Leader’s office to strengthen radical trends at the expense of moderate ones.
In Jordan, this strategy led to divisions within the Brotherhood: one faction aligned with Hamas (mainly Palestinians), and another loyal to the Jordanian state, maintaining historical ties.
The Brotherhood's decision to establish an armed infrastructure in Jordan — especially after the chaos that swept the Arab world during the so-called Arab Spring — represents one of its gravest miscalculations. Historically, the Brotherhood enjoyed unique privileges in Jordan, forming alliances with the monarchy during crises such as the conflict with Nasser’s Egypt and the confrontation with the PLO.
Jordan’s traditional policy of political containment allowed the Brotherhood’s survival and influence. But the recent revelations point to a fundamental shift: Jordan now sees the group not just as a political opponent but as an existential threat, necessitating a different, harsher approach.
The Bigger Picture
Looking back across nearly a century of the Brotherhood’s history, one can clearly see how the group has often served as a tool for external powers to undermine Arab national projects. Their conflict with Egypt's nationalist movements, their role during the Arab Spring (as outlined in Hillary Clinton’s Hard Choices), and their disruptive influence in Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Palestine are all examples of this pattern.
Now, Jordan is their latest theater.
The question is: who in their right mind would sever the last vital artery connecting the Palestinians in the West Bank to the outside world? Could Jordan’s potential destabilization truly benefit the Palestinian cause? History suggests otherwise.
Thus, we must ask: are the decision-makers within the Brotherhood merely foolish, or are they foolish and complicit in foreign interventionist projects? In either case, they seem to be willingly sitting in the lap of the devil, chasing delusions of Islamic rule over Arab lands — a perfect match for the old colonial mindset that believed the Arab world could only be controlled through religious manipulation.
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