The foreign ministers of South Korea and Iran have discussed the Strait of Hormuz during a phone call on Friday, days after Seoul confirmed it was considering a “contribution” to the security of the vital waterway.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured South Korea to assist with securing the strait, saying Seoul had rejected his request for support amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, at Tehran’s request to discuss the latest situation in the Middle East and developments around the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The call came days after Tehran warned that any South Korean military contribution to the conflict would have “serious consequences”.

South Korea has sent a fact-finding team to assess the situation in the strait and has repeatedly said it has not decided whether to deploy its military to Hormuz.

Traffic through the vital shipping route has been virtually paralysed since the US-Iran war began on February 28, disrupting global energy markets.

Negotiations between Iran and the United States have also stalled as both sides vie for control over Hormuz, which normally carries around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas exports.