When the United States and Israel began attacking Iran last weekend, an unlikely peacemaker came forward: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, the leader of the world’s largest Islamic state.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on social media: “Indonesia calls on all parties to exercise restraint and prioritize dialogue and diplomacy.
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“If both sides agree, the Indonesian president is ready to visit Tehran to mediate,” the newspaper said.
But Prabowo’s offer to help mediate between the two sides has sparked debate across Indonesia amid mounting criticism of his approach to foreign policy and warm relations with the Trump administration.
“I wonder why this idea was not vetted before it was made public,” Dino Pati Jalal, Indonesia’s former deputy foreign minister and former ambassador to the United States, said in a statement on Instagram.
“It’s very surreal,” Jalal said.
Others agreed, adding that the proposal could further alienate Indonesians already wary of the president’s friendly relationship with US President Donald Trump.
Ian Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, told Al Jazeera: “It’s clear that any negotiations between Iran and the US are completely over, and to suggest this seems like a misreading of the atmosphere.”
“Domestically, people are likely to interpret this as further alignment with Trump and ultimately with Netanyahu,” Wilson said.
Prabowo has faced intense domestic scrutiny in recent months after volunteering to send 8,000 Indonesian troops to Gaza as part of President Donald Trump’s International Stabilization Force under the Board of Peace (BOP). BOP is a so-called “international peacekeeping” organization, of which Israel is a member.
Indonesia has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel and has long supported Palestinian independence.
His offer to join Trump’s board and participate in the U.S. president’s Gaza plan is not well-received domestically.
“Indonesia is being used to justify the BOP’s dystopian plans to divide the Gaza Strip into quadrants and circumvent the role of the United Nations,” Wilson said.
“Indonesia’s involvement would fundamentally betray Indonesia’s long-standing tradition of being a principled voice for the Global South and its historically deeply respected approach to foreign policy,” he said.
“Bebas-aktif” – “independent and active”
Indonesia is one of the founding members of the Cold War-era Non-Aligned Movement, and for decades has adhered to a “bebas aktif” or “independent and proactive” approach to foreign policy, shunning major power blocs while actively working for peace and national interests.
Over the years, this has included Indonesia’s attempts to broker peace in a number of global conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war.
But experts said Indonesia’s addition to President Trump’s peace committee in the midst of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and now the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran could be an unprecedented test for Prabowo’s approach to foreign policy.
Salvini Abdul Murad, director of the humanitarian group Indonesia for Peace and Humanity, said: “The Foreign Ministry’s statement regarding this attack was unfortunately naive.”
Salvini said the president had offered to mediate, but little had been said about the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, noting that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of neighboring Malaysia had condemned the assassination by US and Israeli forces.
“Ali Khamenei’s death was not answered,” he said.
“Indonesia is at a foreign policy crossroads,” Salvini added.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name, said in a social media post on Wednesday that Prabowo had expressed his deep condolences to Iranian President Masoud Pezekian over Khamenei’s “passing away.”
“Many Indonesians sympathize with Iran.”
Although Indonesia has solidified its support for Palestine, its relationship with Iran is rather complicated.
Approximately 87% of Indonesia’s 270 million people practice Islam, and the majority of Indonesia’s Muslims are Sunnis.
Iran has the world’s largest Shia population, which adheres to different branches of Islamic theology and holds different views on aspects of Islamic political theory and history.
“Previously, there was anti-Shia sentiment among Sunnis in Indonesia,” said Madeh Spuriatma, a visiting researcher in the Indonesia Studies Program at Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute ISEAS.
“However, many Indonesians sympathize with Iran, not necessarily out of solidarity with their fellow Muslims, but rather due to anti-Israel and anti-American sentiments that have been growing over the years,” Suriyatma said.
Many Indonesians support Iran, but not on the same scale as in Palestine, where thousands of people took to demonstrations across Indonesia at the start of the genocidal war in Gaza. Protests against the current war against Iran are mostly limited to “chat on social media,” Spuriatma said.
Yohannes Sulaiman, a lecturer in politics, security and foreign policy at Indonesia’s Jenderal Ahmad Yani University, said many Indonesians were expressing sympathy for Iran and anger at the United States for what they saw as an unprovoked attack on Iran.
But many people probably don’t know what’s going on inside Iran, including the “anti-regime protests” that have recently rocked the country, Sulaiman said.
Indonesian housewife Alisha Ishana said she had certainly not heard of the demonstrations in Iran. Despite this, Ishana told Al Jazeera that she supports Iran in the conflict “because they are fellow Muslims.”
Barista Ramadan said he supports Iran’s right to defend itself.
“This conflict was not started by Iran, but by the United States and Israel,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that his feelings were not guided by his faith as a Muslim.
“For me, it’s not a question of religion, it’s a question of humanity,” he said.
He added that he was particularly disturbed by Saturday’s bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, which killed 165 students and staff.
Prabowo to “evaluate” Indonesia’s role in Gaza plan
Neither U.S. nor Iranian officials have publicly commented on Prabowo’s mediation proposal, but Iran’s ambassador to Indonesia has expressed diplomatic appreciation.
At a press conference on Monday, Ambassador Mohammad Boljerdi welcomed the offer of mediation, but explained that “no steps have been taken” to make it happen and lamented that negotiations would likely be fruitless.
“At this point, I don’t think any negotiations or discussions with the US government will be beneficial, because the US government is not binding and will not adhere to any outcome,” Boroujerdi said.
Researcher Spuriatma said there was growing resentment towards the Indonesian people as a whole, and the United States in particular over President Trump’s peace commission and Prabowo’s role in it, and that the president appeared to be trying to garner support from Indonesia’s political elite.
On Tuesday, Prabowo reportedly convened a meeting attended by former presidents, vice presidents and political leaders to assess the geopolitical and economic implications of the Iran conflict.
After the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, Indonesia’s former foreign minister Hassan Wirajda told local media that Prabowo was ready to “evaluate” Indonesia’s role in President Trump’s peace commission following recent events in Iran, according to official reports.
Supriyatma said the president appears to be “cornered” by his own foreign policy decisions.
“He cannot explain why Indonesia needs to join the BOP and, in my view, he does not have a clear position on Indonesia’s position towards the US and Israel,” Suriyatma said.
“His pro-American positions and seemingly tolerant approach towards Israel are certainly unpopular in Indonesia,” he said.
“But how long will this last? That’s the question,” he added.
“Will Mr. Prabowo be able to maintain his current position as videos of children killed by Israeli and American bombs are widely circulated?”
