TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministers of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) in their final statements in Jedda welcomed expansion of ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran and termed the recent visit of the Bahrain's sheikh to Iran as a turning point in the consolidation of bilateral ties.

Iran's relations with members of the PGCC entered a new phase following the September 11 events. One of the indications of the new phase is the enhancement of level of cooperation between the two sides and their frequent consultations on regional and international affairs.

The visits of Bahrian's sheikh as well as those of Saudi Arabian, Omani, and Yemeni foreign ministers to Iran during the past one month underline the dynamism of Iran-Arab ties.

The continuation of visits between the Iranian and Arab officials of the region demonstrates the keen interest of the two sides in consultation at this sensitive juncture.

Meanwhile Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi in a letter to the Secretary General of the Arab League Tuesday called for solidarity of Islamic countries vis-à-vis the threats of the Zionist regime.

Given the recent developments in the region, the eagerness of the PGCC to expand ties with Iran and Iran's stress on the consolidation of ties among the Muslim countries, underlines a common approach to a common objective by both sides. It shows that one of the objectives of both sides is protection of common and collective interests through a new approach, which is based on regional cooperation.

It was within this framework that the Islamic Republic of Iran proposed to the PGCC to establish a joint free trade zone in the region.

Iran has proposed that the countries of the Persian Gulf region expand multilateral trade through the establishment of a joint free trade zone, said Omani Minister of State for Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi, according to the Central News Bureau.

The foreign ministers of the PGCC have advised their leaders to accept Iran's proposal, he added.

The Leaders of the PGCC will meet in Doha in December.

Meanwhile, the Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi welcomed the PGCC's proposal for enhancing ties with Iran.

Assefi said that the development of ties between Iran and the PGCC members would greatly contribute to security and peace in the region.

The Omani Foreign Minister Alawi also warned Monday that the U.S. is plunging the world into chaos by planning to attack Iraq.

"If the United States invades Iraq it will cause deep anti-American feeling and will provoke revenge and violence in Arab and Islamic countries," Alawi said in an unusually hard-hitting speech at the opening session of a two-day meeting in this Red Sea city.

"The world cannot accept a weakened role for the United Nations.

Those who are thinking they can impose a new law for their own benefit, they are pushing the world into instability and chaos," said Alawi, whose country chairs the six-nation PGCC.

"The hopes that the embargo on Iraq will be lifted have gone with the wind. Now it is clear that the power which dominates the United Nations is not looking to help the Iraqis or the Arabs," he said. "All our hopes of cooperation with our traditional friends are gone and it is clear to us these friends are not looking towards our objectives but they are going to push the situation further into difficulty and trouble in pursuit of their own strategy."

Officials said with the fear of a U.S. strike on Iraq growing, the ministers were expected to urge Baghdad to work through the United Nations and to allow disarmament inspectors to return to the country.

Alawi also criticized Washington's stance on Israel and the Palestinians.