DAMASCUS -- Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi here on Saturday held talks with President Bashar al-Assad on regional and international issues, IRNA reported.

President Assad and Ayatollah Shahroudi also called for developing judicial cooperation and sharing legal expertise between the two countries.

The two sides expressed concern about the situation in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the India-Pakistan crisis.

Iran and Syria called for Muslim solidarity to deal with the sensitive situation at the international level.

Both sides underlined the common views held by Tehran and Damascus on the the Middle East issues.

Shahroudi denounced the crimes being perpetrated by the Zionist regime in the occupied territories and called on Islamic nations to adopt unified legal action with the International Court of Justice against the Zionist war criminals.

On sharing legal expertise, Shahroudi proposed the formation of a committee of Islamic nations on legal code and called for Iran-Syria cooperation in this respect.

On Iraq, Ayatollah Shahroudi said that it is up to Iraqi nation to decide on their own government system and any foreign aggression on Iraq may inflict irreparable and unpredictable consequences for the region.

The Judiciary chief appreciated President Assad's firm stance on the Middle East crisis and said that Islamic and non-Islamic nations are expected to support the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

President Assad deplored White House's unilateral approach on the Middle East issue and said that Washington's interference in regional issues especially in Palestine and Central Asia is aimed at extending its hegemony over global issues.

The Syrian president said that the Zionist lobby in the United States has helped form George W. Bush's administration which has given the green light to the Zionist regime to massacre innocent Palestinians and unconditionally support Tel Aviv.

The president said that restructuring Palestine National Authority is not the priority of the Palestinian nation for the time being.

Attaining the fundamental rights is the prime concern of the Palestinian nation so that the nation would go on reform plan after achieving national sovereignty.

Ayatollah Shahroudi heading a ranking delegation arrived in Damascus on Saturday at the invitation of Vice-President Muhammad Zuheir Masharkah.

Minister of Justice Esmaeil Shoushtari, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Abdolalizadeh and several other senior officials are accompanying Ayatollah Shahroudi.