US-Iran fighting clouds ASEAN ministers’ Manila talks
Foreign ministers in Manila are weighing Southeast Asian security issues as the US-Iran conflict disrupts trade, food and energy supplies.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Renewed fighting between the United States and Iran has shifted attention away from a gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila, according to Al Jazeera. The meeting matters because ASEAN ministers are also due to address regional security problems, including Myanmar’s civil war and disputes in the South China Sea.
The Philippines is hosting the foreign ministers’ meeting, Al Jazeera reported. The agenda includes some of the region’s most difficult issues, but the conflict involving Washington and Tehran has become a central concern for diplomats at the gathering.
Ministers have urged an end to the hostilities, according to Al Jazeera. The fighting has affected Asia by disrupting energy and food supplies, disturbing international commerce and heightening concern about a wider global economic slowdown, the broadcaster reported.
Regional agenda under pressure
ASEAN’s meeting is expected to focus on security challenges close to home, Al Jazeera said. Those include the war in Myanmar and competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, both longstanding concerns for the bloc’s member states.
The US-Iran conflict has complicated that focus by raising immediate questions about economic exposure across Asia, according to Al Jazeera. Energy security and food supply pressures can quickly become political concerns for governments in the region, particularly when trade routes and global markets are unsettled.
Al Jazeera framed the central question for the Manila talks as whether the foreign ministers can keep attention on Southeast Asia’s own disputes while responding to a conflict outside the region. The broadcaster said the renewed fighting has overshadowed the meeting even as ASEAN diplomats prepare to address their planned agenda.
Discussion on wider effects
The issue was examined in a 27-minute Al Jazeera programme presented by James Bays. The discussion featured Richard Heydarian, a political scientist and author of Indo-Pacific: Trump, China and the New Struggle for Global Mastery; Phar Kim Ben, a professor in ASEAN studies at the International Islamic University of Malaysia and a former director of the Political and Security Community at the ASEAN Secretariat; and Don McLain Gill, a lecturer at De La Salle University and an Indo-Pacific research fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Al Jazeera reported that the conflict’s effect on Asia includes pressure on energy, food and trade, as well as fears of a global slowdown. Those concerns now sit alongside ASEAN’s regional security agenda in Manila, where ministers are being asked to respond to both immediate external shocks and unresolved problems within Southeast Asia.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.