ANKARA -- Iranian Ambassador Firouz Dolatabadi said here Saturday that Tehran-Ankara ties have been growing in all areas over the past year which heralds greater cooperation between the two countries.

He said that the two countries' officials have exchanged visits 30 times over the past one year. The trip by the Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to Tehran and Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's visit to Turkey to attend a meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) have been effective in forging closer bilateral relations.

He said the two nations' cooperation in energy, security, and transportation has provided opportunities for closer economic and diplomatic ties.

Dolatabadi referred to the transfer of gas from Iran to Turkey, adding this has also resulted in better bilateral economic cooperation.

He said a decision to form joint companies with an aim of carrying out infrastructural projects in third countries has been envisioned and is likely to be finalized in the upcoming trip by the First Vice-President Mohammadreza Aref to Turkey.

He further said that over 500,000 Iranian tourists visit Turkey annually and this necessitated closer cooperation between the two countries in the field.

Tehran-Ankara diplomatic cooperation at regional level has been effective in better coordination of issues of mutual concern.

Iran and Turkey share similar views on the preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity and on the need for the Iraqi people to decide on their future government, the Iranian ambassador underlined.

Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi will arrive here today for a one-day visit to discuss regional developments in the wake of the U.S.-led war against Iraq and other issues of interest between Tehran and Ankara.

Dolatabadi, told IRNA that Kharrazi is planned to meet with foreign minister Abdullah Gul and other officials of Turkey.

Meanwhile, Gul brushed aside a press report that Kharrazi's request to meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had been rejected.

"Iran's foreign minister has made no demand to meet Turkish president and claims to this effect are sheer lies," he told reporters when asked to comment on the report.

Gul said the Iranian minister would be visiting Ankara on Turkish government's demand and would meet him as well as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The region is staying at a sensitive situation and the two countries will examine bilateral relations as well as regional developments in the visit," Gul said.

Kharrazi and Gul talked over phone late last month, in which the two said they were worried about the impacts of the U.S.-led war at their doorstep in Iraq, including about a potential refugee influx and the Kurdish question.

Kharrazi told his Turkish counterpart that the Iraq crisis was a common cause of concern for both Tehran and Ankara and called for more coordination between the two countries over the issue.

Kharrazi also welcomed Ankara's 'self-restraint' for pledging not to immediately send additional troops into northern Iraq. "Any intervention in Iraq's internal affairs will make the crisis more complicated," he said.

Turkish Army Chief Hilmi Ozkok said recently that Ankara would send extra troops into northern Iraq if forces currently there were unable to cope with security concerns.

Kharrazi said the Kurdistan question was a cause of common concern for both Iran and Turkey as well as Syria, which have Kurdish communities on their territories, and stressed the need for holding consultations on the issue among the three countries.

Gul had recently stressed the need for joint consultations among Iran, Turkey and Syria.