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New Delhi: India, Brazil and South Africa have warned that “renewed threats of military action and intimidation” in West Asia could jeopardise diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran war, as an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the US blockade of its ports remains the subject of behind-the-scenes negotiations despite Donald Trump publicly rejecting it.

The cautionary message came in the joint media statement of the 14th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission meeting, which was released on Monday (September 28), four days after the meeting of the foreign ministers was held in New York on September 24.

Just two days earlier, US President Trump had told the UN General Assembly that he faced a choice between reaching a deal and taking further military action to “annihilate” Iran, while saying he hoped an agreement could still be reached.

The three ministers said that “actions taken outside established frameworks of dialogue, diplomacy and international law risk further undermining of regional peace, security and stability”. They warned that “renewed threats of military action and intimidation will only serve to jeopardise ongoing dialogue, mediation and confidence-building efforts in the region” and called on “all parties to exercise restraint”.

They also linked the West Asian conflict to concerns beyond the region, saying it was having a “negative spill-over effect” on........

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