China’s top diplomat Wang Yi sought guarantees of freedom and safety of international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Wednesday.

The call is Beijing’s latest diplomacy effort on the Iran war as a US naval blockade of Iranian ports intensifies global energy disruptions and adds uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway off Iran’s coast that Tehran effectively closed in response to US-Israeli strikes.

“The current situation has reached a critical stage of transition between conflict and peace, and a window for peace is opening,” Wang said, according to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry.

Wang said Iran, as a coastal state of the Strait of Hormuz, should have its sovereignty, security and legitimate rights and interests respected and safeguarded.

“At the same time, the freedom and safety of international navigation through the strait should also be ensured, and efforts to restore normal transit through the strait are a shared call of the international community.”

According to the Chinese statement, Araghchi said Tehran expected Beijing to play an active role in promoting peace and ending the conflict, and that Iran was willing to continue seeking a rational and realistic solution through peaceful negotiations.

The US blockade followed an initial round of talks in Islamabad over the weekend that were aimed at permanently ending the conflict but failed to produce an agreement, with divisions remaining over Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz.