Chief of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Ma’ruf Amin requested the government to mediate the increasing tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia. As the country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia is considered to have a strategic position to make attempts to facilitate peace between both countries. “The President is currently making diplomatic efforts,” Ma’ruf said on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
Ma’ruf said that there is a possibility for the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran to spread to neighboring countries because both countries have their own allies and supporters.
Ma’ruf asserted that the conflict is somewhat complicated because it does not only related to religious difference between the Wahabi and Shia teachings, but also related to economic issues and oil. Ma’ruf even added that the conflict even involved the United States and Russia.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, according to Ma’ruf, displayed serious intention to help Saudi Arabia and Iran in solving the conflict. “[The President] even plans to held a conference,” Ma’ruf said.
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said that the conference will be held to mitigate the dispute. However, Lukman said that President Jokowi is yet to provide detailed information regarding the conference.
Relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran went sour after Saudi Arabia executed Al-Nimr, a shiite ulema known for his critics toward the Kingdom of Arabia, along with 46 other convicts for terrorism charges. Currently, Saudi Arabia has severed all diplomatic relationship with Iran and ordered its diplomat to leave the country. Iranian high-ranking officials later warned Saudi Arabia of future consequences.
