ASEAN foreign ministers call for halt to Middle East hostilities

South-East Asian foreign ministers on Tuesday expressed serious concern over renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran in the Middle East and called for the immediate and complete cessation of hostilities.

"We are deeply concerned that these developments severely undermine the ongoing efforts of key mediators and diminish the prospects for a peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy," the ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said in a statement issued during their annual meeting in Manila.

"We called on all parties concerned to exercise utmost self-restraint and avoid any acts that may further aggravate the situation," they added.

The ministers noted that the conflict has immediate and long-term effects on the region's people, as well as trade, energy and food security.

They stressed the importance of maintaining "maritime safety and security, and upholding freedom of navigation in and overflight," and called for the restoration of the "safe, unimpeded and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz."

ASEAN comprises 11 countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The Philippines currently holds the organization's rotating chairmanship.

At the start of the meeting, Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro stressed the need for the regional grouping to find a way forward together amid global upheavals and uncertainties.

"We must continue this journey together, because cooperation is no longer a choice – it is a strategic necessity," she said. "In a fractured global landscape, no single nation can weather these storms alone."