ASEAN Urges US and Iran to Restrain Escalation of Conflict

Istanbul (ANTARA) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has urged the United States and Iran to exercise restraint, as the renewed conflict in the Middle East weakens mediators’ efforts to achieve a peaceful solution.

“We express serious concern over the rapidly developing situation in the Middle East, particularly the renewed hostilities involving the US and Iran,” read a joint communiqué issued by ASEAN foreign ministers on Tuesday.

“We are deeply concerned that these developments severely undermine the efforts of the principal mediators and diminish the prospects for a peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy,” said the ASEAN foreign ministers, who gathered in Manila for their 59th annual meeting.

The senior ASEAN diplomats also emphasised the importance of maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity, upholding international law, and promoting sincere dialogue and diplomacy in resolving conflicts and tensions, including the need for an immediate and comprehensive cessation of hostilities on all fronts in the Middle East.

The appeal was made amid continuing exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran, despite both parties having signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war in June, through Pakistani mediation.

Pakistan and Qatar, which serve as the principal mediators in the conflict, have urged the warring parties to halt attacks and return to the negotiating table before 9 July.

However, the US continued its military strikes against Iran on Tuesday, prompting retaliation by Tehran across the Middle East - targeting American assets and military bases in the region.

A joint proposal submitted by Islamabad and Doha urges Tehran and Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the US blockade on Iranian ports, and end sanctions on Iranian oil.