ASEAN Demands 'Immediate Cessation' of US-Iran Hostilities
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- ASEAN foreign ministers called for a "complete and immediate cessation of hostilities" across all Middle East fronts at the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila on Tuesday, while demanding restoration of "safe, unimpeded" transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
- The US-Iran ceasefire, initially agreed in April and formalized in June, collapsed earlier this month after both sides accused the other of reneging; the US has resumed air strikes on Iran while Iran has struck shipping and regional targets, including an attack that killed three US military personnel in Jordan.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio told ASEAN and regional leaders that Iran's demand to control and collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz would create a "very dangerous precedent" that "will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region," according to the source.
- ASEAN's latest statement notably omitted its March 4 reference to the war resulting from "attacks initiated by Israel and the United States," a shift the source suggests indicates the bloc now apportions equal responsibility to Iran for the ceasefire breakdown.
- Rubio said Iran "has been reaching out to the United States, both directly and indirectly" to negotiate, but added the Trump administration "is not going to sit by and let ships be blown up or Americans be attacked."
- ASEAN ministers warned the renewed fighting would hit regional trade, energy and food security, as well as agricultural production and fertilizer supply chains, with the Middle East supplying roughly 60% of Asia's crude oil imports.
Why it matters: Southeast Asian governments, already disrupted by the first phase of the war when Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz and spiked oil prices, now face a renewed and possibly prolonged spell of economic turmoil with no diplomatic end in sight. ASEAN's quiet removal of its earlier attribution to the US and Israel suggests the bloc is hedging toward neutrality to keep negotiating leverage with both sides intact.
