TEHRAN -- Through vigilance, unity, and past experiences “we should break the West’s consensus led by the United States,” Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here on Thursday.

In a speech at the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, Rafsanjani said Iran’s nuclear issue is a “pretext” for the West’s consensus against the Islamic Republic.

The United States and its allies have been ramping up pressure on Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities. However, Iran says it has legal right to enrichment as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Muslim unity

Rafsanjani also said that the West seeks to portray the Muslims as divided. He called on the Muslims to get united, adding, “We should not let the Shia-Sunni conflict to be used against us as a tool in the hands of the enemies.”

By inciting strife between Shias and Sunnis in Lebanon and Iraq, Washington is seeking to pit them against each other, he noted.

Rafsanjani called for massive public participation on Bahman 22 (Feb. 11) rallies in a bid to defend the country’s independence and disappoint enemies from attaining their vicious goals.

As a national day, Bahman 22 marks the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. “In this day we should show that there is no conflict between Shia and Sunni.”