TEHRAN -- Visiting cultural advisor to Omani King Abdulaziz bin Muhammad al-Zowas, conferred here on Wednesday with the Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on expansion of cultural ties among Islamic states.

At the meeting, Al-Zowas, said had the Islamic countries been determined to consult one another prior to occurrence of events or crises, they would not have faced so many problems as they face now.

Underlining the fact that the issue of Palestine will not be solved through compromising means, Rafsanjani said that the Zionist regime is now fishing in troubled waters in case of Iraq and the Middle East and forcefully continues massacre of Muslims and demolishing Palestinians' houses.

Rafsanjani referred to the Zionist regime's rejection of recent UN Security Council's resolution and Washington's double standard policy toward UN ratification.

He said the U.S. has entered the region fully equipped to implement UN resolution on Iraq but it is practically pushing the Middle East toward a war while failing to show any reaction toward rejection of UN resolution by Israel. Such contradictions have aroused the anger of world nations and Muslims, in particular, he added.

Rafsanjani also underlined the firm determination of the Islamic Republic of Iran to further consolidate relations with its neighboring countries mainly with the Persian Gulf littoral states.

Describing Iran as a big pillar of the Muslim world, Al-Zowas said, both Iran and Oman share common views on regional and global issues and this will help them take a joint decision in dealing with those issues.

Criticizing U.S. policies in the Middle East, Al-Zowas underlined that the United States, turning a blind eye to the views of the United Nations and other countries, believes that it should impose its favorite types of democracy and freedom on the world.