Jakarta. Indonesia has told Iran that its offer to be a mediator in the Middle East conflict remains on the table.

Iran’s war against Israel, the US, and Washington’s allies has entered its fourth day. Within hours after the conflict fire started over the weekend, Jakarta announced that President Prabowo Subianto was willing to fly to Tehran to cool down the tension. Albeit the skepticism among Indonesians and the missile barrage, Foreign Minister Sugiono recently told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that Prabowo was still very much interested. 

“Indonesia stands ready to play a constructive role in advancing peace, including offering our willingness to facilitate dialogue or mediation,” Sugiono said on Tuesday, commenting on his phone call with Araghchi.

“... with the common objective of preventing further escalation or stopping the unnecessary loss of innocent lives.”

Jakarta repeated its calls for self-restraint, while saying that “dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable path to regional stability”.

The Iranian government has yet to publish a statement on Araghchi’s talks with Sugiono. 

Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Boroujerdi said that Tehran thanked Indonesia for putting itself forward as the mediator. However, he doubts the talks can bear fruit.

“There is no negotiation with a country waging hostility against us, namely the US. Because is there a guarantee for the US to abide by what has been agreed on?” Boroujerdi told a press briefing in Jakarta.

Indonesia has said that Jakarta would still have to gain the greenlight from both sides before it could start the mediation efforts. The Jakarta Globe has reached out to the Foreign Ministry for the latest updates on this mediation move.

Ex-Deputy Foreign Minister Dino Patti Djalal wonders if Jakarta possesses a strong diplomatic capital to facilitate such talks, citing that the Prabowo administration had not done much to build ties with Tehran before the conflict. It's also unlikely for US President Donald Trump or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to be willing to visit Tehran, as Washington started the fire with the weekend's airstrikes.

In his latest announcement, Trump estimated that the operations could last between four and five weeks, but Washington was prepared “to go far longer than that”. The US and Israel launched their joint military attack on Tehran on Saturday morning local time, prompting Iran to fire retaliatory strikes that also extend to Gulf Arab states that host Washington's assets.

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