Cooper was expected to discuss cooperation with regional partners to "ensure continuity of oil supply in the face of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz", a Foreign Office statement added.

She described Saudi Arabia as an "essential partner for the UK in the Gulf" that had been "targeted by reckless attacks by the Iranian regime".

Britain's inital response to the conflict faced criticism from US President Donald Trump and the Cypriot government.

An Iranian-made drone hit the runway of Britain's Akrotiri base in southern Cyprus on March 1, days after the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer at first refused to have any role in the conflict.

The UK government has since given the US permission to use two air bases for "specific defensive operations into Iran" to destroy Iranian missiles at source.

The UK has also agreed to fly "defensive air sorties" in support of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and taken out drones elsewhere in the Middle East.

A British warship on Tuesday left port in southern England en route to the eastern Mediterranean to "bolster British defences in the region".