Tehran -The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, will arrive in Iran tonight for a historic visit to open a "new era" in relations.
However, the visit is likely to be dominated by expectations of an attack on Afghanistan in response to the September 11th terrorist blitz on the US.
Mr Straw will be the highest-ranking Briton to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution, and he is aiming to patch up quickly relations which were badly damaged after calls for the death of the British author Salman Rushdie, who was alleged to have insulted Islam.
Mr Straw will hold talks tomorrow with President Mohammad Khatami and Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharazi, about neighbouring Afghanistan's Taliban militia, which has defied US calls to hand over Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the attacks.