TEHRAN – Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here on Friday described French government’s policy toward Iran “wrong” and called on the Elysee officials not to follow the footsteps of the Blair government in obeying the U.S. to pressure Iran.

“This policy by Paris is wrong,” Rafsanjani said on the sidelines of the International Qods Day rallies.
The former Iranian president added that France has taken a radical approach toward Iran’s nuclear program and has intensified its cooperation with the U.S.
Meanwhile Rafsanjani called on the West to give up intimidating the Islamic Republic and let Iran and the IAEA continue “reasonable” talks for resolving the nuclear dispute.
In a sermon at Friday prayers, the former president said that the West’s ‘unconstructive approach’ and ‘unreasonable prerequisites’ have led to a one-year delay in resolving the nuclear standoff.
The nuclear dispute is another manifestation of the West’s oppressive measures against the Islamic Republic, he added.
Despite the Westerners’ wrong approach toward the nuclear issue, Iran has expressed willingness to address the remaining questions about its nuclear program and has developed full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The West has put itself against Iran’s nuclear rights which the Islamic republic has proven would never give up, he observed.