Indonesia will work to help find a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis in Iran, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said.
"Allowing the crisis to grow would have a negative economic effect for developing nations," the Jakarta Post daily on Wednesday quoted the minister as saying.
"Our involvement in seeking an amiable solution is not without sufficient grounds. If we are not doing anything we are afraid thecrisis will evolve into something which could disturb our economy," he said after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to a meeting with a number of foreign ambassadors here on Tuesday.
The price of crude oil reached more than 68 U.S. dollars a barrel on concerns over Iran. According to analysts, oil prices could skyrocket to above 100 U.S. dollars a barrel should there be no immediate and peaceful solution to the crisis.
Iran produces 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and exports 2.7 million bpd, mainly to China, Japan and Europe. As the second largest producer after Saudi Arabia in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iran has oil reserves estimated at 125.8 billion barrels, some 10 percent of the world total.
As part of an effort to ease the tension, president Yudhoyono called the then envoys from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, ustalia, Russia, the United States and China with roles in settling the standoff, to brief them on Indonesia's stance on the crisis.
Hassan said Yudhoyono urged these countries to go the "extra mile" to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis.
"Through the (Tuesday's) meeting, Indonesia expects these countries to forward our standpoint and consider our thoughts during the Feb. 2 meeting of the United Nation Security Council," said Hassan, adding that Indonesia would only support Iran's nuclear program if it was for peaceful purposes, not for military ones.
