Jakarta. The Indonesian government has finally told the US and Israel to stop attacking Iran, as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country shifts to a stronger stance.

As the war hit the second-week mark, Indonesia finally spoke against Washington’s military operations despite having just struck a trade deal and joining the US-led Gaza Peace Board. This time, Indonesia did not shy away from telling Tel Aviv and Washington that it was about time to end the military operations.

“Indonesia calls on the US and Israel to cease their attacks against Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yvonne Mewengkang said Monday.

Jakarta made a similar request in response to Tehran’s attacks on Gulf nations, although it stayed silent on the missiles fired at Israel. Iran has targeted US assets across the Gulf in retaliation for the strikes that eliminated its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. 

“We also call on Iran to cease attacks targeting neighboring countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan,” Yvonne said.

Jakarta urged the warring parties to “return to the negotiating table through dialogue and diplomacy”. However, Yvonne did not explicitly bring up Jakarta’s original offer of having President Prabowo Subianto carry out mediation in Tehran.

On Feb. 28, the US and Israel coordinated a joint attack on Iran in a campaign nicknamed Operation Epic Fury. Indonesia attributed the military escalation to the failed US-Iran nuclear talks. Its statement was limited to expressions of “deep regret”. It was also then that Jakarta pitched to assume the mediator role. 

According to Iranian estimates, the US-Israeli military strikes killed over 1,300 civilians, including kids. 

Indonesia is now evacuating the first group of citizens from Tehran. As many as 32 evacuees are scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday evening.

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