UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to embark on a Middle East tour later this week that will bring him to countries including Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and " likely Syria and Iran," a UN spokesman said Wednesday.

The secretary-general would visit Brussels on Friday for a special meeting of EU foreign ministers on the proposed UN troop deployment for Lebanon and after that would go to Lebanon and Israel "and also likely Syria and Iran," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Annan will also visit Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, Dujarric said, adding that an itinerary has not been decided yet.

"The sequences of those stops following Lebanon and Israel are still being worked out, as are the exact dates of those stops, but he will stop in those countries," he said.

The spokesman said that during the trip, Annan will try to help implement the UN Security Council resolution 1701 adopted on Aug. 11 seeking an end to a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The visit to Iran, as to the other places, is to make sure that all those who have an influence in the implementation of 1701 use that influence positively," Dujarric said.

On the UN chief's planned stopover in Teheran, Dujarric said that "Iran has an influence on certain parts of Lebanese society" and "we would hope that they would use that influence positively."

"The Iranians need to be part of that dialogue," he added.

Resolution 1701 authorizes the UN force in Lebanon to be expanded from the current 2,000 troops to up to 15,000, to police a fragile cease-fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.

Source: Xinhua