London, Oct 28, IRNA -- The British Foreign Office confirmed Monday that an all-party group of women MPs has travelled to Tehran for a four-day visit in response to an invitation by Iranian MP Fatemeh Khatami.

The visit, which will include discussions on women's issues, is a follow-up to the visit of an Iranian Majlis delegation to London in May this year.

The British group is headed by Labor MP Phyllis Starkey, a parliamentary private secretary to the Foreign Office, the most junior rank in government.

Other members of the delegation include her Labor colleague, Julie Morgan, Conservative MP Angela Watkinson and Sandra Gidley of the Liberal Democrats.

Before being promoted last year, Starkey was chair of the all- party Britain-Palestine Group and a vociferous member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, where she campaigned to highlight the UK's continuing arms sales to Israel.

The 55-year old Labor MP was first elected to parliament in 1997 after serving a distinguished double career as a research scientist and local politician.

... Payvand News - 10/29/02 ... --