Prabowo-Pakistan Visit: Middle East Conflict De-escalation?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Muslim Scholars Association (ICMI) Jimly Asshiddique revealed that President Prabowo Subianto and the leader of Pakistan will visit Tehran, Iran, to reduce the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

He admitted that he heard this directly from President Prabowo in a meeting with ulama, Islamic boarding school leaders and leaders of Islamic community organizations, Thursday (5/3/2026) yesterday.

“I am grateful that the Prime Minister of Pakistan is willing to visit Tehran with President Prabowo. That is what the President explained earlier,” said Jimly at the Presidential Palace Complex, Central Jakarta, Thursday evening.

“Forget whether I am the Prime Minister or President of Pakistan. Well, they will both go to Tehran,” he added.

Also read: Prabowo is said to be in no rush to bring Indonesia to join the BoP, he has already spoken to Gulf countries

Based on Prabowo’s account, the Head of State was telephoned directly by the Pakistani leader for the visit.

“Pakistan just called President Prabowo a few hours before this meeting, right? Well, he wants to be together. Oh, that’s very good,” he said.

According to Jimly, this plan is a good step so that the conflict does not drag on.

This also indicates that President Prabowo’s proposal to become a mediator is supported by Pakistan.

Also read: Prabowo’s efforts to become a US-Iran mediator are said to be supported by Middle Eastern countries

“Wow, that’s great. So it’s not just Indonesia, this means that what President Prabowo thinks has the support of the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” said Jimly.

He also assessed that the role of Indonesia and Pakistan as countries with the largest Muslim populations is very important in this effort.

Jimly is of the view that mediation needs to be tried even though the chances of success are small.

“Even though the opportunity may be small, try it. The point is that Indonesia is taking it global player role as global player. We support that. Don’t think of it as negative, okay? It’s not like reconciling someone who has just been killed, that’s not it. “But to de-escalate and prevent any further attacks from Israel,” said Jimly.

Also read: Measuring Indonesia’s Power as a Peacemaker in the Middle of the Middle East

Previously it was reported that Indonesia volunteered to become a mediator following the escalating conflict in the Middle East after Israel and the United States (US) attacked Iran since last weekend.

The aim is to restore conducive security conditions.

If agreed by both parties, the Indonesian President is ready to travel to Tehran, Iran, to carry out mediation.