Iran Congratulates Indonesian President’s Reelection

In a letter on Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani congratulated his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo on winning the election for a second term.

Hailing the “remarkable growth” in the relations between Iran and Indonesia in recent years in light of the political determination of the two countries’ officials, Rouhani expressed hope that Tehran and Jakarta would further boost their ties in all fields during Widodo’s new term.

The Iranian president also expressed confidence that consistent independence of Indonesia’s polices, the closeness of Iran and Indonesia’s logical stances on international issues, and remaining unaffected by the “extralegal pressures and unilateral decisions of certain governments” –which only result in restrictions and unfair sanctions against the two nations- would allow Tehran and Jakarta to enhance their friendly ties in various arenas.

Joko Widodo was reelected as Indonesia's president after beating former general Prabowo Subianto in last month's elections.

Widodo won 55.5% of the vote to Prabowo's 44.5%, the election commission said. More than 192 million people were eligible to vote in the April 17 poll, choosing 20,000 local and national lawmakers.