British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for a lasting settlement guaranteeing freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz (the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes), as the fragile US-Iran ceasefire remained in doubt. Cooper made the remarks on Monday during a visit to Tokyo, the final stop on what her office has described as an "intensified shuttle diplomacy tour" aimed at coordinating with key allies on geopolitical, energy security, and economic priorities. The call underscores growing international concern that the waterway could be used as a pressure point in ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.