TEHRAN -- Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here on Monday expressed concern over the Iraqi crisis and negative impact of the presence of U.S. military forces in the region.

Speaking in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Salahattin Alpar, Rafsanjani reiterated that Iran and Turkey as two powerful Muslim states could have prevented the escalation of crisis in the region.

According to the Public Relations Office of the Expediency Council, the former president added that regional countries, Iran and Turkey in particular, are expected to adopt active policy to prevent the outbreak of war in the region.

He further referred to cultural, economic, political, security, industrial, transportation, oil and gas as fields for expanding mutual ties, noting that unfortunately the main goals of ECO and D8, which were established to boost regional cooperation, have not been realized yet, IRNA reported.

Alpar, for his part, pointed to the important role of the two neighboring countries in regional developments, and said that the sensitiveness of the region has redoubled the importance of the cooperation between Ankara and Tehran.

"Turkey respects Iraq's territorial integrity and opposes any unilateral military operation against the country," he reiterated, adding that Ankara believes that the Iraqi people should decide for their fate.

The ambassador pointed to the political, economic and security issues including regional developments and transfer of Iran's gas to Turkey as main commonalties brought the interests of the two states close to each other.