Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged the US and Iran to halt military escalation immediately and resume diplomatic negotiations under the June framework.
PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged the United States and Iran to immediately halt further escalation and return to diplomacy following the latest exchange of strikes between the two countries.
In a statement, Anwar cautioned against economic measures that could worsen hardship among civilians and hinder diplomatic engagement, saying such actions risked aggravating rather than resolving the crisis.
“I urge the United States and Iran to halt further escalation and return immediately to diplomacy and the understandings reached in June.
“This conflict can ultimately be resolved only through political and diplomatic means. The world must not be made to pay the price for a wider regional war,” he said.
Anwar said he was gravely concerned about the renewed escalation, warning that the latest exchange of attacks, which had extended beyond the two countries into other states in the region, could draw the wider Middle East into an even more destructive conflict.
He said the party with the greatest capacity to influence the situation had a particular responsibility to exercise restraint and prevent further escalation.
“The sovereignty of other states cannot be cast aside. No military objective justifies exposing civilians to an expanding conflict,” he said.
The latest escalation follows renewed US strikes on Iranian military targets, with Iran subsequently launching attacks on US-linked facilities in several countries in the region, including Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq.
The June framework agreement called for an immediate ceasefire and provided a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a broader peace deal.
Under the agreement, Iran was to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz and allow ships to pass through during the negotiation period, while Washington was to end its naval blockade, lift sanctions, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and begin work on a reconstruction package for Iran.
However, the agreement subsequently unravelled, with fighting subsiding for a period before the two sides exchanged fire again over the weekend.
