Prabowo's Statement on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Clarified Amid 'Ghost Fleet' Comparison

Teguh Santosa, the General Chair of the Indonesian Cyber Media Network (JMSI), has clarified the narrative surrounding President Prabowo Subianto's statements concerning Iran's nuclear weapons, asserting that the public discourse has taken the remarks out of context. Santosa explained that Prabowo's statement, delivered at a Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) event on Friday, July 31, 2026, was part of an explanation regarding the geopolitical risks and uncertainties faced by national business actors. After reviewing the full statement, Santosa found no sentence indicating that Iran definitively possessed nuclear weapons. He assessed that Prabowo's reference to responses from Middle Eastern countries was a description of a hypothetical situation, a common approach in international relations studies using game theory. "What Prabowo conveyed is purely an analysis of a hypothetical situation regarding the dynamics currently taking place on the international political stage," Santosa stated. Santosa, also an international relations observer, drew a parallel to Prabowo's 2018 remarks where he quoted the novel 'Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War.' This novel outlines various hypothetical scenarios, including the potential dissolution of Indonesia in 2030 and global power conflicts. Santosa noted that such strategic fiction and worst-case scenario analyses are common among foreign political observers and research institutions to foster national vigilance. He reiterated that Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, aligning with the fatwa of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. According to this Islamic principle, nuclear weapons are considered contrary to the tenets of war, which emphasize self-defense and discriminate targeting of combatants, as nuclear weapons are indiscriminate and harm the environment. Santosa urged the press to be more careful in disseminating information, warning that decontextualized statements can mislead the public and potentially harm Indonesia's relations with friendly nations. JMSI advocates for an ecosystem of accurate, balanced, fact-based, and context-based reporting, emphasizing the need for verification of key statements from public officials to prevent distortion by practical political interests. He encouraged stakeholders to view Prabowo's foreign policy direction in its entirety to avoid being drawn into disinformation amidst complex global competition.