Not BoP, MUI Vice-Chairman Urges UN and OIC Role to Reconcile US and Iran

Cholil Nafis, the Vice-Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), urged maximising the role of the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to help end the conflict between the United States (US) and Iran. He made the call after attending a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto and religious scholars at Istana Merdeka in Jakarta on Thursday evening, 5 March 2026. ‘Let this war not fall on civilian populations. We also hope this can create peace by maximising the role of the UN and the OIC, because everyone will lose if this war continues,’ Cholil said. Moreover, the Board of Peace includes the United States and Israel, which have been accused of launching attacks on Iran. ‘I think the issue with BoP is the same: if we push for it, it will be ineffective; Indonesia should withdraw,’ Cholil added. ‘So we see its lack of effectiveness in BoP because the initiators have not provided a credible track record or a current stance that favours peace,’ he said. Muhadjir Effendy, head of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership’s Economy, Business, and Halal Industry division, said that Indonesia’s participation in BoP is part of the effort to realise peace. ‘The strategy he (Prabowo) chose is what is called a strategy from within. Having long been outside, we are now trying to pursue it from within,’ Muhadjir said on Thursday. Indonesia’s involvement in BoP is also said to remain firmly rooted in the principle of an active, independent foreign policy and the 1945 Constitution (UUD 1945). ‘It also remains committed to the initial goal of the two countries coexisting peacefully, namely a sovereign Palestine and Israel,’ he added. Before deciding to join BoP, Muhadjir revealed that Prabowo had held lengthy discussions with Gulf countries. ‘Whatever the consequences, the effort to realise a sovereign Palestine must come to fruition. And this is set out in the BoP’s twenty-point agreement; points 19 and 20 state clearly that the BoP’s aim is the creation of a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel. I think that is our guiding principle,’ Muhadjir concluded.