BRUSSELS, BBC- Jack Straw is to become the first UK foreign secretary to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution.
Mr Straw's trip is the latest in a hectic series of global diplomatic efforts since the terror attacks on the US 10 days ago.
He announced that he would be making the historic trip shortly before Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Brussels for a summit of EU leaders after flying back from the US.
Mr Straw said he had planned to go to the country later in the year, but in the wake of a phone call between Mr Blair and Iran's President Khatami the visit had been brought forward to early next week.
Mr Straw said relations with the country had greatly improved in recent months.
He would also be visiting Israel and Jordan, he added.
The BBC's Teheran correspondent Jim Muir said: "As the crisis intensifies Britain has emerged as a channel of communication between the United States and Iran which is desperately trying to avert what it fears will be a calamity, perhaps even greater than that inflicted on New York and Washington."He added that Iran was concerned that a major assault on Afghanistan would cause another humanitarian disaster and trigger an anti-western backlash in the Muslim world.
Mr Straw had tough words for the Taleban government in Afghanistan who have asked prime suspect Osama Bin Laden to leave their country voluntarily in response to US demands to give him up.
He described the Taleban's offer as "puny and totally unacceptable".
PHOTO CAPTION:
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw speaks to the media at the European Union Council building in Brussels, Friday, Sept. 21, 2001. EU leaders met on Friday in an emergency summit to discuss the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)