UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper warned Tuesday that "the world is sleepwalking into a global food crisis," saying that if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened "tens of millions of people" could go hungry.

The closure of that critical waterway to almost all ships has disrupted exports of large quantities of fertilizer products.

Earlier this month the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the war had created a global "scarcity" of fertilizer which would "lead to lower [crop] yields and tightening food supplies in the latter half of 2026 and into 2027."

The UK Foreign Office warned that "if global partners don’t get fertiliser moving" then vulnerable regions of the world will need "shipments of critical emergency aid...not just external investment and technology," it said in a press release.

Cooper said Iran had "hijacked" the critical international shipping lane.

"Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the Strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the costs of living pressures", Cooper said.

-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge

U.S. Central Command said in a post to X on Monday that the number of commercial vessels redirected amid the ongoing American blockade of Iranian ports had reached 85.

"CENTCOM continues to strictly enforce the U.S. blockade against Iranian ports," the command said in its post.

"Iran and its armed forces are more prepared and stronger than ever before," according to a statement Monday from Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

The statement, published on Iran's semi-official state media outlet Fars, comes on the same day that President Donald Trump said on social media that the U.S. will hold off on attacks on Iran, planned for Tuesday, at the request of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"We will cut off the hand of any aggressor," the Iranian statement continued. "We urge the United States and its allies not to make strategic mistakes and miscalculations again."

"They should know that Islamic Iran and its armed forces are more prepared and stronger than ever before, they are on the trigger, and they will respond quickly, decisively, powerfully, and extensively to any renewed aggression or aggression by the enemies of the proud land and nation," the statement further said.

President Donald Trump said on social media Monday that “serious negotiations are now taking place” to end the war in Iran and that a deal acceptable to the U.S. “will be made," but that he had asked the Pentagon to prepare for “a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post on Monday that dialogue with the United States "doesn't mean surrender."

Pezeshkian's social media post came after Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei announced that Iran had responded to the latest American proposal for ending the war.

"Dialogue does not mean surrender. The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation's rights, and under no circumstances will it retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country," Pezeshkian said in his social media post. "We will serve the people with logic and with all our might, to the end, and safeguard the interests and honor of Iran."

Earlier on Monday, Baghaei said at a press briefing that Iran had sent a response to the U.S. proposal through a Pakistani mediator after reviewing the proposal "over the past several days.

“So the process continues through the Pakistani mediator," Baghaei said. "What can be said with certainty is, first of all, that rights are not something we are to negotiate or compromise over. Iran’s right to enrichment is recognized under the NPT agreement, or the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. There is no need for another party to recognize this right for Iran. This right already exists."

-ABC News William Gretsky and Victoria Beaule

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the U.S. has made "significant progress" in discussions related to Iran, while stressing the "ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon."

Speaking during his visit to India in a press conference with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Rubio said that additional developments could come later on Sunday.

Rubio added that the administration has worked with Gulf regional partners over the last 48 hours on a possible framework aimed at keeping international waterways open and addressing concerns surrounding Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"We think we've made some progress on the outline of something that, if it works, could give us that outcome," Rubio said, while cautioning that any agreement would still require "full Iranian acceptance, and then compliance."

He also condemned Iranian threats against commercial shipping routes, calling such actions "illegal under any concept of international law."

Rubio defended President Donald Trump's record on Iran, stating "there is no one who has been stronger on this issue than President Trump," dismissing suggestions that the administration would agree to any arrangement that strengthens Iran's nuclear capabilities.

"The idea that somehow this president, given everything he's already proven he's willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd," Rubio said.

Rubio closed his remarks by expressing cautious optimism, saying "perhaps there is the possibility that over the next few hours the world will get some good news."

-ABC News' Rebecca Gelpi-Ufret