Pope Benedict XVI was to meet with Iran's foreign minister at the end of a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, the Vatican said.

The pope and Manouchehr Mottaki were to meet briefly after the audience at the Vatican's Paul VI hall.

During the audience, which drew several thousand faithful, the pope reiterated his call for world peace.

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"An ardent appeal for peace on earth, one that can translate in a concrete commitment to build (peace) with our lives: this is the task that Christmas entrusts us with," Benedict told the pilgrims.

On Christmas Day, the pope had called for an end of violence in the Middle East and around the world.

In a special Christmas message to the Christians of the Middle East on Monday, the pope said he hoped to visit the Holy Land as soon as the situation there permits it.

"Dear brothers and sisters, I truly hope that Providence sees to it that circumstances permit me to make a pilgrimage to the land that was made holy by the events in the history of salvation," he said.

"I hope to be able to pray in Jerusalem, homeland of the hearts of all the spiritual descendants of Abraham...," he said.

The Vatican supports a Palestinian state as well as Israel's right to exist within secure borders.