Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will send envoys on a diplomatic tour of Arab and Islamic capitals in the coming days for talks on the fate of Jerusalem, state radio said Wednesday.
The report comes as both US and Israeli leaders have said in recent days that Washington would transfer its embassy to Jerusalem, the holy city whose fate is at the heart of the latest Middle East peace talks.
It said Khatami was taking the initiative as acting chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the 56-nation pan-Islamic world body whose rotating presidency is currently held by Tehran.
The report said Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi had already held talks on the Jerusalem question Tuesday with his counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Syria.
Egyptian and Syrian official media confirmed that Kharrazi had talked with their respective foreign ministers.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that Washington would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by January 20th, when US President Bill Clinton's successor takes office.
The Barak announcement came just days after Clinton said in an Israeli television interview that he was considering relocating the embassy, a move greeted with angry threats by the Arab and Islamic world.
Hizbollah movement vowed such a move would ensure that US diplomats would "return home in coffins.” – TEHRAN (AFP)
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