The Middle East Newsline reports that Jordan’s King Abdullah warned the Obama administration that Iran was expanding its presence throughout the Middle East. King Abdullah, in his first meetings with the Obama administration, told the White House and Congress that Iran has established strongholds in such places as Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The king was quoted as saying that Iran was using proxies, particularly Hamas and Hizbullah. “I met with King Abdullah, who said that Hamas ministers [in Gaza] all directly follow the orders of Tehran,” said U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk,  a leading Republican on the House Foreign Appropriations Committee.