Since our last episode a lot has happened in the region. Jordan has opened its main crossing with Syria. Its state carrier airlines are set to resume flights to Damascus after almost a decade. And the Syrian military chief paid a rare visit to Jordan. So it looks like Jordan and Syria are coming closer after years of fractured relationship. And as these two put aside their differences and continue to rebuild their ties, is this the beginning of the end of Syria's isolation? We tell you more. Since the last year we have all been hearing about the winds of change in West Asia. The normalization deals were an example of the changing dynamics here. But it's not just Israel and the Arab world. Two other countries are putting aside differences in an effort to rebuild their diplomatic ties. For years the relationship between Jordan and Syria was frosty. They were on opposite sides since the beginning of the Syrian war. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad allied with Russia, while Jordanian king Abdullah II sided with the United States. The Damascus had previously accused Jordan of training rebel fighters and allowing them to enter Syria through its border. Relations between the two countries degraded to the point where Jordan kicked Syrian ambassador Bahjat Soleiman out of the country in 2014. But now a decade after the war in Syria began, the Hashemite kingdom is re-evaluating those ties. Jordan fully reopened its main border crossing with Syria, in a boost for their struggling economies hit by the pandemic. The Syrian Jordanian border has been repeatedly closed since 2015. This was due to the presence of armed groups, especially around the border crossing point of Jabba Nasif. For us Jordanians, we consider this crossing like the lifeblood of Jordan as it is for the Syrians. So we consider this opening a very great thing. Thanks to the efforts of the Syrian and Jordanian governments, we are entering Syria now as a Jordanian trade delegation to participate in the reconstruction of Syria exhibition. Although the Jabba crossing has been partially open since 2018, trade has yet to recover its $1 billion pre-war level. Before the conflict in Syria, the Nasif Jabba crossing was a transit route with hundreds of trucks per day transporting goods between Europe and Turkey and the Gulf. The security situation is now stable on the Syrian side according to sources. And we hope it remains stable. This was a reason behind the last closure of the Jordanian Syrian borders. This will be cheaper for traders there if a Jordanian trade-ler just enters Syria than having two trailers and moving the goods between them. Now, one car can carry goods from Akaba and enter Damascus. But that's not all. Jordan's state carrier will soon resume direct flights to Damascus. For the first time in nearly a decade, the latest step to restore extensive business ties with Syria. Flights have been suspended since the start of the conflict, even though other airlines continue to fly to Arman from Damascus. The visit of Syria's military chief general, Ali Ayyub, to Jordan, marked a change in relationship between the two. The visit comes as Jordan sought to normalize ties with Assad, a strong reversal from the government's previous stance. Meanwhile, for Syria, the wider business links are crucial. It could help it recover from the conflict, attracting much-needed foreign currency. Jordan's normalization of ties with Syria is a part of a bigger Arab world push to reintegrate a country that have shunned during its decade-long civil war. Jordan was hurt by the cutting of ties with Syria, and hosting millions of Syrian refugees has proven costly. But as Damascus continues to deal with the consequences of its war, it remains to be seen if our month's gamble will pay off. West Asia bureau, we on, world is one.