Foreign ministers from seven nations from Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere will hold talks in Istanbul on Friday focused on the Strait of Hormuz and interrelated crises in the Middle East, as well as the war in Ukraine. Ministers from the so-called E3 group (Britain, France and Germany) will meet with their counterparts from the newly created R4 group, made up of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt, to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, events in Yemen and the Strait of Hormuz, and ways to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told AFP. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s office said the talks would revolve around “the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Saudi Arabia,” as the Saudis back Yemen’s embattled government in its decade-long civil war, which has broken out amid the US war against Iran. “Pre-war levels are below pre-war levels,” a statement from the UK Foreign Office said. He said Miliband would “advocate for a diplomatic solution to the crisis that restores full navigational rights and freedoms” and would emphasize “how Iranian tactics are being replicated across the region, with attacks on Saudi Arabia further destabilizing the region and increasing pressure on vital waterways and global chokepoints, such as Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal.” “Typhoons to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks on its airspace,” he added. CBS/AFP
