Seven-Nation Ministerial Meeting in Istanbul to Discuss Hormuz Security and Regional Crises
Key Facts
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is due to host two foreign ministers’ meetings in Istanbul on October 23, 2026, for the R4 and R4+E3 groups, as part of a diplomatic effort that places security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz on a broader regional agenda. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the meetings would be held that day, while Agence France-Presse reported that ministers would discuss the Palestinian issue, developments in Yemen and the strait, and ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The R4 framework brings together Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, while the R4+E3 framework adds France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The expanded meeting thus brings together foreign ministers from seven countries, with European and regional participation on issues extending beyond the security of the maritime corridor. According to the coverage, Britain’s discussions will focus on Hormuz and the situation in Saudi Arabia.
The continued threat to shipping provides a direct backdrop to the consultations. A British statement said passage through the Strait of Hormuz remained under threat and traffic had fallen sharply compared with prewar levels. The British government said Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband would call for a diplomatic solution that restores full navigational rights and freedoms. He will also link regional threats to mounting pressure on Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal, according to the statement, broadening the discussion from navigational safety in Hormuz to other corridors in the region. The position supports London’s effort to restore freedom of passage through a political settlement, while shipping continues to face stated risks.
Fidan is advancing an approach that places security responsibility on countries in the region. According to Agence France-Presse, he will stress that regional security first requires countries in the region to take responsibility for their own security. He will also call for preventing conflicts from spreading to new areas and for keeping tensions from turning into broader instability. Turkey is expected to affirm its support for Saudi Arabia’s security and lasting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. He will also urge greater international pressure on Israel over settlement expansion, linking maritime security issues with political developments in the region.
The diplomatic concerns are tied to growing risks to commercial shipping. The Associated Press reported that Iran said 7 oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, but said it had been unable to independently verify the claims. The news agency cited the UK Maritime Trade Operations office as saying October had seen the highest number of reported attacks on commercial shipping since March, with the office warning that some shipping companies were reluctant to report incidents. It also cited Lloyd’s List Intelligence as saying Gulf operators continued working despite 28 attacks on ships during October, the highest number since the war began. These incidents underscore the difficulty of assessing the risks facing tankers in the region.
Despite the continuing risks, oil shipments through the strait have not stopped. The Associated Press cited Lloyd’s List Intelligence as saying tankers were still carrying oil under U.S. military protection, using a route near the coast of Oman. The agency reported that shipments had returned to levels close to those before the war, but that doing so required more time and money and increased the risks borne by seafarers. Spot tanker charter rates also rose to hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, while ship-to-ship oil transfers could take several days. These costs show that continued flows do not mean transport has returned to normal conditions.
International Energy Agency data point to a partial recovery in Gulf energy flows during September. Crude oil exports from Gulf producers, led by Saudi Arabia, rose by 4.4 million barrels per day to 13.9 million barrels per day, exceeding 75% of prewar levels. Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz increased by 3.7 million barrels per day to 10.9 million barrels per day, while exports bypassing the strait via pipelines rose by 970,000 barrels per day to 5.6 million barrels per day. The figures show the role of pipelines in moving some supplies outside the strait, alongside the return of maritime flows. But the agency also said observed global inventories at the end of September remained 509 million barrels below prewar levels.
In the oil market, the International Energy Agency said Brent crude futures had risen 13% since the start of September to about $107 a barrel in its October report, while the actual prices of some physical crudes had increased more. The agency also linked its market assessment to falling observed inventories and estimated that the market deficit would continue through the end of the year. In a parallel diplomatic track, the Associated Press cited a spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general as calling on the United States and Iran to return to diplomacy to reopen the strait and ease tensions. The spokesperson said: "We need to reopen this waterway, and we need to ease tensions." Security will be another focus of talks in the Black Sea: the coverage said Turkey had presented Russia and Ukraine with a proposal the previous month to halt attacks on ships, and NATO announced on Tuesday that it was deploying additional aircraft, drones and radar systems there.