RIYADH: Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, on Thursday offered his condolences for the loss of lives in recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

During a call with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Motegi said that attacks on civilians were intolerable, as he affirmed Japan’s condemnation of a series of strikes against the Kingdom this month by the Iran-backed militia in Yemen, which have killed at least 20 people and injured more than 350.

He “strongly called on the Houthis to immediately stop escalating the situation and has directly called on Iran to urge the Houthis to exercise restraint as well,” Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The ministers also discussed coordination and cooperation in efforts to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blocked since February, and Bab Al-Mandab Strait, another choke point for international shipping, which the Houthis have targeted in an attempt to disrupt maritime trade in the Red Sea, the Saudi Press Agency reported.