ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHafsa KhalilGetty ImagesUK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to chair the meeting of foreign ministersBritish Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to chair a meeting of more than 30 foreign ministers on Thursday, in an effort to coordinate an international plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The virtual summit is expected to consider what diplomatic and political steps could be taken to reopen the important shipping route, though the US was not set to attend.
Iran has attacked several vessels in the Strait in response to the war waged against it by the US and Israel, severely disrupting energy exports and sending global fuel prices soaring.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said it was for other nations to "build up some delayed courage" and reopen the route.
Trump said allies "should have done it" earlier, adding: "Go to the Strait and just take it. Protect it. Use it for yourselves."
Washington has repeatedly accused allies of not doing enough to secure the shipping route or to support its war effort, leaving the UK and other nations weighing how to contribute to securing the Strait without becoming involved in the wider war.
The UK-hosted summit on Thursday was expected to involve governments which signed a joint statement in mid-March calling on Iranian forces to halt attacks against commercial ships.
That statement was supported by some Gulf nations, as well as France, Germany, Japan, Australia and others.
The talks come a day after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was "exploring each and every diplomatic avenue that is available" to reopen the route.
He also said British military planners would consider what could be done in the future to "make the Strait accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped".
At the same time, governments around the world are weighing how to respond to cost of living pressures triggered by rising energy prices.
About a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes through the Strait. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, has jumped from $73 (£55) to well over $100 in recent weeks.
