Iran Tracker

Reaction to June 2009 Iranian Presidential Election:

In June, 2009, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry offered congratulations to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election. The Indonesian foreign minister, Teuku Faizasyah, expressed hope that Iran and Indonesia will continue to expand bilateral relations.[1]

Nuclear:

Indonesia abstained from voting at the UN to bring the issue of Iran’s nuclear program before the Security Council in 2006, but voted in favor of sanctions in 2007. [2] Indonesia abstained from voting on UNSCR 1803 in 2008, saying that it was not convinced that sanctions would change Iranian nuclear policy for the better and that Iran was actually cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency.[3] Indonesia has officially endorsed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology, but only under the safeguards of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA.[4] In a press conference in April 2007, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called Iran’s nuclear program peaceful and the United Nations resolutions against the country illegal.[5] In an official meeting in Tehran in January 2009, Indonesian parliamentary vice speaker supported Iran’s nuclear enrichment.[6]  Indonesia and Iran are members of the Non-Aligned Movement, which released a statement in a meeting in Tehran in July 2008, supporting Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology and condemning military action against \iran’s nuclear program.  In 2008, however, Indonesia voted in favor of UNSCR 1835 against Iran. [7]

[Click here for more information on the Non-Aligned Movement.]

Economic Relationship:

Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Iran has largely centered around the energy sector, but has begun growing into other industries. In a meeting of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation in March 2008, the chairman of Indonesia’s Cooperatives Council, Adi Sasono, and the secretary general of Iran’s Chamber of Cooperatives, Mohammadreza Ramezani, called for an expansion of bilateral trade ties in all fields between their respective countries. [8]  In May 2008, the Iranian ambassador to Indonesia, Behrooz Kamalvandi, said "currently, the trade between Indonesia and Iran stands at around USD 500 million, still a quarter from our target." [9]  IN May 2009, Iranian Ambassador to Indonesia Behrouz Kamalvandi reiterated Iran’s willingness to increase trade with Indonesia, saying that their bilateral trade has the potential to pass $1 billion in the near future.[10]  Indonesia and Iran have agreed to cooperate on several joint development projects. One of the most important of these is a $6 billion joint refinery in Indonesia scheduled for completion in 2012. According to Kamalvandi, Iran will provide around 150,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil a day for the refinery, which is about 12-14 percent of Indonesia’s total consumption. [11]  Beyond energy cooperation, Iran and Indonesia also began discussing agricultural trade and other natural resource trade in March 2009.[12]  In May 2009, Indonesian ministers participated in a large conference on foreign investment in Iran hosted in Tehran.[13] The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2009 in which they agreed to cooperate on technical and economic issues relating to housing and urbanization.[14]

In December 2009, Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representative Marzuki Ali expressed his country’s desire to further engage with Iran in utilizing Iran’s “invaluable experiences in various scientific fields.”[15]  Ali highlighted that bilateral trade between the two countries has tripled in recent years and said that the figure could increase further through the sharing of scientific discoveries and technologies.[16]

In January 2010, Indonesian exporters and Iranian importers agreed to increase their fish trade, and Indonesia set a target of 2000 tons of tuna for export to Iran.  Director of Foreign Marketing of the Maritime and Fisheries Department Saut P. Hutagalung also announced that “a larger prospect is very open” for further maritime trade between the two countries.[17]

[Click here for more information about Indonesia’s business activity with Iran.]

Diplomatic/Military Cooperation:

Iran and Indonesia, two of the most populous Islamic countries, keep embassies in each other’s capitals and have high-level political relations. In January 2009, Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi met with Indonesia’s parliamentary vice speaker and described Indonesia as "a great potential for the Muslim world."[18] During his visit to Tehran in January 2009, Indonesian President Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono’s agreed to expand all levels of official cooperation with Iran by signing five memorandums of understanding with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad said Yudhoyono’s visit to Iran marked the deepening of political ties between the two countries. [19] In May 2009, a delegation of Iranian journalists met with members of the Indonesian Journalists Association in Jakarta, asking them to help Iran counter what it claims is a distorted image from Western media.  The Indonesian board’s chairman Tarman Azzam said Indonesian journalists would be happy to help Iran improve its media image and counter what he claimed was a “Western media bias.”[20]  Both countries are members of the Developing 8 (D-8); Iran is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which Indonesia’s president Sukarno helped found.[21] 

In November 2009, Indonesian Foreign Minister Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa met with Iranian Ambassador to Jakarta Behrouz Kamalvandi.  They emphasized the importance of boosting their political, economic and cultural relations.  Kemalvandi urged Indonesia to finalize documents that would make official the expansion of Iranian-Indonesia relations.[22]