TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Visiting head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and member of the Governing Council of Iraq Jalal Talabani here Tuesday hailed Iran's role in the Iraqi development.

Speaking in a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Talabani evaluated as important the role played by the Islamic Republic in the pre- and post war eras in Iraq.

He added that the Iraqi nation praised Iran for its humanitarian assistance to Iraq.

He further referred to the two countries' historical, cultural and geographical commonalities, adding that the Iraqi transitional government is ready to strengthen and bolster mutual ties in trade and economic affairs as well as exchange of pilgrims and Iranian technical and engineering companies' participation in Iraq's reconstruction.

Kharrazi, for his part, said that despite the Saddam-imposed war against Iran, the deep-rooted relation between the two nations is growing.

He added that Americans gradually understand the complicated situation and realities in Iraq.

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that handing over the administration of Iraq to its people and immediate withdrawal from the Iraqi soil would be the sole solution to the current crisis.

He also expressed Iranian state and private companies' readiness for boosting mutual ties in all areas.

Kharrazi further pointed to the arrest of some Iranians, including the two documentarians in Iraq, and called for more efforts by the Iraqi government to release them.

In this respect, Talabani expressed hope that the Iraqi Governing Council will try to release the documentarians as soon as possible.

Soheil Karimi and Saeed Aboutaleb, the two Iranian documentarians and staffers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), were arrested by US forces on July 1 in southern Iraq while working on a documentary about life in Iraq.