KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 -- Let's give credit when it's due.

The decision of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to engage in relentless phone-call diplomacy - and many foreign visits - is now yielding tangible, measurable results.

Few outcomes are as strategically significant as Iran allowing Malaysian vessels to pass through the Straits of Hormuz.

According to news reports, about 50 per cent of Malaysia's total oil passes through the narrow strip.

The Prime Minister had called up Iranian president Masoud Pezeskian, while Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan also spoke to his counterpart, Abbas Aragchi, to allow seven ships to continue their journey home, of which four are carrying crude oil.

Iran's Ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammad...