Foreign ministers from seven European, Middle Eastern and other nations are due to meet in Istanbul on Friday for talks centred on the Strait of Hormuz and the wider crises affecting the region.
The discussions will bring together the E3 group of Britain, France and Germany with the newly formed R4 group of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. The agenda is expected to include the Israel-Palestinian crisis, Yemen, the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ed Miliband, the British Foreign Minister, is expected to focus on the strait and the situation in Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s beleaguered government in the country’s decade-long civil war.
The British Foreign Ministry said shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained under threat, despite what it described as positive progress by the United States and regional partners. Traffic through the waterway has fallen sharply from pre-war levels.
Mr Miliband will call for a diplomatic settlement to restore “full navigational rights and freedoms”, while warning that Iranian tactics are being replicated elsewhere in the region.
The ministry said attacks on Saudi Arabia were further destabilising the region and increasing pressure on vital waterways and global chokepoints, including Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal.
Britain has committed RAF Typhoon aircraft to help defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks in its airspace, the ministry added.
