Bahlil Believes Prabowo Can Mediate Iran–US–Israel Dispute
Chairman of the Golkar Party, Bahlil Lahadalia, has responded to several voices doubting President Prabowo Subianto’s ability to mediate between Iran and the United States and Israel. According to Bahlil, Golkar as the governing coalition party believes Prabowo can be a peacemaker.
Bahlil said that regardless of what others say, Golkar remains steadfast in believing that Prabowo can mediate between Iran and the United States-Israel. “Everyone is entitled to their opinions; that is one of the consequences of a democratic country. But for Golkar, who understands and believes in the abilities of Mr President Prabowo, God willing we are very confident in his capability,” he said at the Golkar Party Central Executive Board (DPP Golkar) offices in Jakarta on Friday, 6 March 2026.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Minister went on to recount his experiences accompanying Prabowo on overseas visits during February. He assessed that Prabowo has an emotional closeness with other heads of state during trips to the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
From that relationship, Bahlil is optimistic that Prabowo could apply the same approach when mediating Iran with the United States-Israel. “So for those who do not know Mr President Prabowo, that is normal, but for us in Golkar who know Mr President Prabowo, God willing we are very confident in his ability to conduct political communication among world leaders,” he said.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister, Dino Patti Djalal, has described the idea of Prabowo heading to Tehran to be a mediator between Iran and the United States as not realistic. Prabowo’s readiness was conveyed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a few hours after Israel, together with the United States, again attacked Iran’s capital Tehran on 28 February 2026.
Dino offered at least four reasons: first, the United States rarely agrees to be mediated by a third party when launching military strikes. Dino believes U.S. President Donald Trump does not want Indonesia involved. He argues that Trump is currently blinded by a desire to topple the Iranian government.
The second reason, he says, is that the Iranian government has recently not been close to the Indonesian government. Dino notes that in the last 15 months, President Prabowo has not visited Iran or met President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Third, even if Prabowo were ready to fly to Tehran to act as mediator, it is unlikely that U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio—as the parties launching the attack on Iran—would be willing to visit Tehran.
The final reason is that mediation would require Prabowo to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the main party behind the attack on Iran. Dino emphasised that this is not feasible politically, diplomatically, or logistically.
Dino stated that a Prabowo–Netanyahu meeting would amount to political suicide for the president domestically. “I truly do not know where this astonishing idea came from that Prabowo would fly to Tehran to mediate this triangle of conflict,” Dino said.