Foreign ministers from eight countries have urged the United States and Iran to pursue diplomacy rather than further attacks, warning that any escalation would deepen the conflict and threaten freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Italy met in Istanbul on Friday to discuss tensions around the strategic waterway and wider developments in the region.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said none of the participating countries supported another military intervention or attack on Iran. Diplomacy and dialogue were the only means of ending the war, he said, warning that further action would worsen tensions and broaden the conflict.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said an escalation between Iran and the US “would create nothing but losers and would undoubtedly have very serious consequences for hydrocarbon prices”.
“And so the first thing this group of eight countries … will do is call on both sides to exercise the utmost restraint, because we cannot afford another escalation in the region,” he told reporters.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said the countries were seeking “de-escalation to guarantee freedom of navigation”. He added that he did not believe the crisis could be resolved “from a purely military standpoint”, saying dialogue was needed to reopen Hormuz.
Ministers discuss wider regional conflicts
The ministers also discussed Israel’s war in Gaza, fighting in Yemen and prospects for ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Istanbul meeting was described as a first-of-its-kind effort to examine the parameters of regional conflicts and possible solutions, despite the different national interests of the participating countries.
Mr Fidan said developments in the Gulf were affecting other parts of the world. He also said Turkiye was well placed to play a constructive role in the process, citing the flexibility of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement involving Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
