Jakarta. Indonesia welcomes the freshly signed US-Iran peace deal, as the agreement not only stops the protracted fighting but is expected to improve optimism towards Jakarta's economy.

At Versailles, US President Donald Trump has recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending his war against Iran after fueling worldwide energy panic. The long-awaited news quickly reached other parts of the world, including the ASEAN-Russia gathering in Kazan. Foreign Minister Sugiono even told the high-level talks that Jakarta was happy to see how things had progressed.

“We welcome the signing of the MoU between the US and Iran toward de-escalation and the peaceful resolution of the conflict. This demonstrates that dialogue remains the most effective path,” Sugiono told the Kazan forum on Thursday local time.

Throughout the war, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy kept repeating its calls for dialogue and self-restraint. President Prabowo Subianto had put himself forward as a mediator early on, even offering to fly to Tehran himself to facilitate the talks.

At home, Prabowo is confident of the positive effects that the MoU can bring to the national economy, according to sovereign wealth fund Danantara's boss Rosan Roeslani. Rosan—who is also the investment minister—had just stepped out of closed-door talks between the president and state bank leaders.

“Trump’s deal with the Iranian government has caused crude prices to go below $80 per barrel. We hope this will lead to a positive sentiment for our economy,” Rosan told the press on Thursday, as seen in a video shared by the Presidential Secretariat.

A copy of the 14-point MoU shared by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shows that the agreement not only calls for an end to the fighting “on all fronts”. It also commits both sides to negotiate the final deal over the next 60 days. 

Iran will also “make arrangements using its best efforts” to allow safe commercial shipping via the Strait of Hormuz with no charge. This key oil shipping channel has been devoid of traffic since the conflict began in late February.

The global crude benchmark Brent had stayed above the $100 per barrel threshold since the blockade, but had now fallen to around $79 per barrel on Friday. Two Indonesian oil tankers belonging to the state energy giant Pertamina have been unable to pass through the Hormuz. Pertamina did not immediately respond to comments on the fate of the two trapped tankers now that the Trump deal is in place.

Indonesia has been grappling with economic challenges in recent months, ranging from a free-falling rupiah, non-subsidized fuel price hikes, to rising benchmark interest rates. Global index provider MSCI has also just delivered the latest blow by flagging information flow concerns from opaque share ownership structures.