Radhiyya Indra, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has drawn criticism over his suggestion that Iran possessed nuclear weapons and his declaration of readiness to help mediate dialogue between South Korea and North Korea, with experts calling both remarks imprudent.
Prabowo's remarks came from a speech he delivered before Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) members at the State Palace on Friday in which the President outlined mounting geopolitical challenges facing Indonesia.
In the livestreamed event, Prabowo discussed the tensions in the Middle East, claiming that Iran's possession of nuclear weapons could prompt neighboring states to do the same.
"It is said that Iran already has nuclear weapons. Now, Saudi Arabia also wants nuclear weapons. If Saudi Arabia wants nuclear weapons, it is possible that the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt will also want nuclear weapons," Prabowo said on Friday.
However, the livestream on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel abruptly cut to a government advertisement shortly after the remarks, while the uploaded recording later omitted the segment.
A clip of Prabowo's speech quickly gained traction on social media and has drawn widespread criticism from foreign policy experts, who said the statement was "unsubstantiated" and risked reinforcing narratives used to justify military strikes against Iran earlier this year.
"Alleging that Iran possesses nuclear weapons was precisely the pretext used by Israel and the United States to launch their attacks [on Iran]," Shofwan Al Banna, an international relations lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said on Sunday.
Tehran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian purposes, including electricity generation and medical applications. Although Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said its inspection found no indication of a coordinated Iranian nuclear weapons program.
The US and Israel nevertheless launched coordinated strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28, citing their aim to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program. Iran quickly denied the allegation, while many governments and human rights groups condemned the missile attacks for violating international law.
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) senior researcher Dewi Fortuna Anwar likewise said Prabowo's assertion was premature, stressing that no conclusive evidence had supported the claim used to justify the US-Israeli strikes.
"It was unwise for the President to categorically say Iran has nuclear weapons without verification. Iran's enrichment capability is different from having nuclear weapons," Dewi said.
Government Communications Agency (GCA) head Muhammad Qodari did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
Mediating attempt
In the same speech on Friday, Prabowo claimed that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung had asked him during a recent visit to Seoul whether Indonesia would be willing to help reopen dialogue with North Korea. Prabowo said he would be prepared to travel to Pyongyang if requested.
"I told [Lee], 'With all due respect, if [you] ask me to go to North Korea, I will go," Prabowo said.
The speech was not omitted in the uploaded recording.
Dewi of BRIN said Indonesia could serve as a credible broker if Seoul had indeed requested its assistance, citing Jakarta's longstanding ties with both Koreas and its free and active foreign policy.
Lee's office said South Korea believed Indonesia and other countries with friendly ties to both Seoul and Pyongyang could play a constructive role in helping foster peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula, and that it had continued to explore ways to cooperate with them, Reuters reported.
However, international relations analyst Ahmad Rizky M. Umar expressed concern about the plan, saying mediation would require navigating domestic politics and North Korea's refusal to relinquish its nuclear deterrent.
"Prabowo would have to navigate not only inter-Korean relations but also demands for denuclearization that North Korea is highly unlikely to accept," Ahmad said, adding that the President's role as a conflict mediator remains lacking.
Last week, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, rebuked ASEAN states over their renewed call for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, accusing the regional bloc of parroting Washington's position and serving as a "hired mouthpiece" for the United States, Reuters reported.
The Foreign Ministry said Indonesia simply aimed to follow through on Foreign Minister Sugiono's last visit to Pyongyang in October 2025, which yielded bilateral agreements across various sectors.
"Indonesia continues to actively pursue dialogue and cooperation with [South Korea] and [North Korea], both bilaterally and in efforts to maintain stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula," the ministry's spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said on Sunday.
She did not respond to questions on Iran.