Gulf foreign ministers to meet with Iranian FM in push to secure deal for Strait of Hormuz - report

Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on Friday.The gathering is scheduled to be held on Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, the report said, citing two people briefed on the matter.Reuters could not immediately verify the report.Later, Seoul's foreign ministry said that South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun had a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Friday and discussed the situation in the Middle East, including freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.Araghchi and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir also discussed finding ways to restore diplomatic efforts to de-escalate Tehran's conflict with the US on all fronts, a Pakistani security official told Reuters on Friday.The two spoke by phone on Thursday and the conversation was focused on the US-Israeli war with Iran, the possibility of getting back to talks, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the official said.The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.Strait of Hormuz shipping stalls after Iran threatsShipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed at the start of this week, after Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate for any new US attacks.The number of commodity vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz totaled seven on Monday, compared with eight on the previous day, Kpler data showed on Tuesday.Iran had warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable.