Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call to keep talks with Iran going and said Turkey would continue to back peace efforts, according to the Turkish presidency. Ankara, which borders Iran and has NATO's second-largest army, has repeatedly called for an end to the war and has stayed in close contact with the United States, Iran, and mediators including Pakistan and Qatar while also acting as an intermediary between the sides. The appeal came as diplomacy showed signs of strain: a senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier on Monday that Iran would shift to a "fully offensive" military posture because efforts to negotiate a permanent end to the war had stalled after Washington ruled out extending a temporary ceasefire agreement. Progress toward restarting oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route, has also stalled. The Turkish presidency said Erdogan and Trump also discussed bilateral ties, the war in Gaza, and a defence pact signed between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.