Arab leaders have given Jack Straw "an earful" during his whistlestop tour of the Middle East.

Earlier this week the foreign secretary set out on a mission of coalition building in a bid to pull key Arab nations onside ahead of a Western-led war on Iraq.

The UK has been assuring Middle Eastern leaders that the drive against Saddam Hussein does not mean Western powers are neglecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But Straw received an increasingly chilly response as his diplomatic offensive dragged on.

Returning to the UK from Iran, Straw "received an earful" from the Tehran government - which has previously suffered at the hands of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

"The leadership of the two countries differ markedly about how to deal with the issue of Iraq," said the Tehran Times.

Straw's reminder of Iraq's chemical weapons attacks during a meeting with Iranian president Khatami did not play well, reports the English language newspaper, which is close to the government.

"Who helped the Iraqi government acquire chemical weapons and supported their use against Iran and even Iraq's own citizens? Khatami asked in a thinly-veiled rebuke for British and Western support for Saddam Hussein," notes the paper.

Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi warned that a US unilateral war would backfire and inspire "deep hatred" in the Arab world.

"We feel banging the drums of war for Iraq has been reason enough for Palestine to become marginalised and this has prepared the ground for Israel to continue with its aggression and it wants - through military might and through force - to solve the issue of Palestine to its own aim," he said.

"All the countries in the Islamic world are against the unilateral policies of the US and this has been reason enough for a deep hatred to be felt throughout Islamic countries."

Iran, like most of the region, backs a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis.

"We are against war and we feel that through diplomatic means and through the UN we can solve the issue and force Iraq to give up its weapons of mass destruction," Kharrazi said.

The British diplomatic mission to five Middle Eastern countries is said to have won no converts to the US-led strategy to tackle Iraq.

Talks in Paris, Cairo, Jordan, Kuwait and Iran were intended to test opinion and brief Arab leaders on the latest intelligence regarding Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction.

UK officials have claimed that behind Arab calls for peace leaders have voiced "fear and contempt" for Saddam and understood Straw's case for the threat of force against Iraq.

"We cannot ignore the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to this region," the foreign secretary told a Tehran press conference.

"Disarmament will only come about by the very firm resolve of the international community and a clear commitment by the international community that, unless this is resolved by peaceful means, then force will be used."