Overview
- The unprecedented R4+E3 meeting convened in Istanbul on Friday and brought together seven foreign ministers led by Turkey’s Hakan Fidan and Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar.
- Ministers from Türkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia met with Britain, France and Germany to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Yemen and Houthi attacks, tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea spillover from the Russia‑Ukraine war.
- Ankara is chairing the talks to press a diplomacy-first approach that asks regional states to take primary responsibility for de‑escalation and for resolving the US‑Iran dispute through dialogue.
- Practical concerns driving the meeting include repeated attacks on commercial shipping and the risk to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el‑Mandeb plus rising strikes on vessels in the Black Sea that threaten energy flows and trade.
- The meeting is an initial political step with outcomes still pending and builds on R4’s regional‑ownership agenda, the August Makkah defence pact and the E3’s long-standing European diplomatic role on Iran.