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British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw prepares to walk a diplomatic tightrope as he begins talks in Tehran, Tuesday, to seek support from Iran ahead of the international coalition's planned military action against Afghanistan.
Some US academic circles have speculated that Iran could play a pivotal role in yet another coaltion against terrorism that also includes India, Russia, China, and the US.
Straw's ground-breaking visit to Tehran has been preceded by a clash with Israeli politicians infuriated by the British Foreign Secretary's reference to "Palestine" in an article for an Iranian newspaper.
Israelis do not recognise the term Palestine, and Straw's implication in the article that Arab popular anger over Palestinian suffering may be a cause of terrorism has been attacked by the Israeli media and right wing politicians who are upset that London is seeking to build bridges with the Israelis' enemies in Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refused to meet Straw while one of his cabinet colleagues, Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, described the British Foreign Secretary's comments as an "obscenity".
Sneh added, "The journey of that foreign minister who made these statements and is making the trip with the concurrence of the United States, to Tehran, the capital of Iran, is a stab in the back for Israel."
Straw responded, "My record of fighting terrorism speaks for itself. But there is a need to understand the environment in which terrorism breeds."
The diplomatic storm came as Straw left Amman, the capital of Jordan, following talks with King Abdullah and an impromptu meeting with Yasser Arafat. Earlier, the Palestinian leader's negotiations with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres were cancelled after the murder of Israeli civilian Salit Shitreet.
Straw's visit to Iran is the first by a British Foreign Secretary since the fall of the Shah in 1979. It follows improved relations between London and Teheran secured by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a telephone conversation last week with President Khatami.
Straw hopes to cement a crucial new alliance with Iran following its unexpected but welcome condemnation of the terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington DC.
In Tehran, President Khatami sounded a note of caution by warning that military strikes could trigger a "catastrophe" and even war between Muslims and the West. Khatami's grim forecast of "catastrophe" was made earlier in talks with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al-Assad.
Khatami was quoted as declaring, "One should not use this ugly incident as a pretext to cause another catastrophe. We should have a united view on the definition of terrorism so that we can better root out this phenomenon."
One of Iran's senior clerics, Grand Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi also issued a warning, saying, "The Islamic world will not stand still regarding an attack on a Muslim country."
The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage
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