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View all search resultsStop Mideast escalation
As the protracted Mideast conflict continues to send economic shock waves across the globe, ASEAN must leverage its diplomatic weight to restore international law vis-à-vis the Hormuz strait before power politics dictates the world's most vital waterway.
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Cargo ships anchor near the Strait of Hormuz in the waters off Khor Fakkan Port in the eastern United Arab Emirates, in this video still from AFPTV footage taken on July 12, 2026. (AFP/AFPTV)
T
he conflict between the United States and Iran has crossed lines long considered uncrossable. The escalation began on Feb. 28 when joint US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader, an act of aggression whose reverberations the Middle East is still absorbing.
Tehran’s subsequent retaliatory strikes hit US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and even targeted long-standing mediator Oman. This response severely compounded the crisis, drawing neighboring nations into someone else’s war.
We condemn this escalation without exempting the US as co-aggressor.
For Indonesia, this war is no abstract concern.
When the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed in late February, the economic fallout reached our shores within days. The rupiah plummeted to record lows against the US dollar, and Pertamina saw its tankers stranded in the Persian Gulf for weeks. Severe oil price shocks drove up the cost of jet fuel, diesel and plastics, disproportionately burdening remote communities across the archipelago where logistics costs are already high.
This is why President Donald Trump’s July 13 proposal to charge a 20 percent toll on commercial vessels transiting Hormuz must be viewed as a severe warning, despite its reversal within 24 hours following swift pushback from Gulf allies and national advisers.
The International Maritime Organization is clear: No sovereign nation holds the legal authority to unilaterally impose tolls on an international strait.
