Tehran has said its goal in the attack was to respond to Israel’s deadly strike in Syria on April 1 without necessarily provoking further escalation of the conflict. But what does it think will happen in a clash between two rivals that have an equal inclination to flout international law?

Israel’s six-month siege of Gaza has already made it clear that to geopolitical actors, lives are mere numbers and that the biggest obstacle to peace is an unwillingness to look beyond national interests.

But as the chorus of nations calling for restraint and deescalation grows, there is a real sense that no one wants to deal with any more conflict than there already is.

Gulf nations and others whose airspace Iran violated in its attack on Israel would be the first to suffer, stuck in the middle of a confrontation between Israel, backed by the United States and the Group of Seven (G7) on one side, and Iran and its proxies in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon on the other.

For Indonesia, being situated 10,000 kilometers away from the eye of the storm is not enough to allay fears that the economy could reel from the potential impact of soaring oil prices or the costs of further global supply chain disruptions.

Others have cautioned against fanning the flames of war to the benefit of oil producers and the military-industrial complex or have highlighted the risk that investors will move their money out of rupiah-denominated securities and park it in gold or the US dollar in the event of a larger conflict.

Fortunately, the government’s response has inspired some confidence at this time of volatility.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to address the risks associated with the Iran-Israel conflict and told his ministers to boost diplomatic efforts to call for restraint and deescalation. He also instructed his cabinet to explore contingencies for state spending and find ways to maintain investors’ confidence in the country.

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo, who was present at the meeting, gave assurances that the central bank would take measures to stave off the exchange rate volatility that has caused the rupiah to weaken since last week.

With fluctuating global oil prices accounting for some of the biggest downside risk, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said Indonesia had enough fuel reserves to limit the impact on the economy.

Indonesia’s reliance on oil imports from African nations, rather than the Middle East, will also provide some buffer from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

On the foreign policy front, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said she had spoken with counterparts from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany to repeat the message that “escalation benefits no one”.

The minister spoke to US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, known as the Asia point man in President Joe Biden’s administration, to urge the US to use its influence over Israel to deescalate the situation.

For Jakarta, which has no dog in the fight when it comes to Israel but is exposed to the risks of escalating conflict in the Middle East, there is little that can be done apart from leveraging its good ties with Iran to defuse tensions.

But if Israel ends up retaliating for Saturday’s attack, it will be back to the drawing board for Indonesia.