SBY Says US-Israel War with Iran Could Escalate into a Regional War
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — The sixth President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), has said that the war between the United States (US) and Israel against Iran could widen and escalate into a regional war.
‘If the fighting in the Middle East broadens and grows, there will certainly be implications not only for life in the Middle East but also in many places around the world,’ SBY said in his SBY Standpoint podcast on his personal YouTube channel, quoted on Wednesday (4 March 2026).
SBY said he has been closely following the developments in the Middle East in recent days in order to understand the issue comprehensively and objectively.
According to SBY, if one considers the developments in recent days, the conflict between the US-Israel and Iran could spread.
He explained that initially the conflict was between Israel and Iran and the US and Iran.
However, the situation became more complex when Gulf states were affected by retaliatory attacks.
Moreover, according to SBY, the Gulf states that had previously sought to remain neutral ultimately became involved after being targeted.
‘Suddenly the Gulf states, which, indeed, if I may follow, wanted to be more neutral, as Iran promised, if their country is attacked by the United States and Israel, don’t blame Iran for retaliating and all those American forces in the Middle East would become targets. It turned out this indeed happened, so what earlier could be said to be non-aligned was forced to involve themselves,’ he said.
‘So, this is truly now a regional war in my view, with tit-for-tat. Initially it was United States plus Israel against Iran; now it has become more complicated because Gulf states attacked by Iran, for example Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and others I did not mention, would all defend their sovereignty and retaliate. This is dangerous,’ he said.
The Chairman of the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council also highlighted the possibility of involvement by other countries outside the Middle East, including NATO members, if the attacks widen.
Because NATO has policies that require member states to act when one of the members is attacked.
‘And I am thinking that there are also troops or British bases in Cyprus that are attacked. Does this trigger Article 5 of NATO? If a NATO member is attacked by a country, it is mandatory for NATO member states to jointly fight the country attacking Britain’s position. This becomes even more dangerous,’ he said.