Sitting govt. wasted opportunity to resolve nuclear row: Iran`s Velayati

TEHRAN,May 30(MNA) - Presidential hopeful Ali Akbar Velayati said in 2007 former French president Nicolas Sarkozy proposed to mediate between Iran and the West in the nuclear row but the Ahmadinejad administration did not welcome the initiative, a local news agency reported on Wednesday. Velayati, a former foreign minister who currently serves as top foreign policy advisor to the Supreme Leader, cited lack of interest by the administration as the reason behind the failure of a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s nuclear issue in 2007. Elaborating on the details, Velayati said, “It was around 2007 that the French ambassador to Tehran invited me for a meeting with the then French President Nicola Sarkozy in Paris. I informed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and he agreed with my trip.” Velayati said, “During the meeting with French officials in Elysee Palace, we agreed to find an in-between solution to the dispute and it was agreed that a group of French diplomats and nuclear experts travel to Iran to finalize the negotiations.” “However,” Velayati said, “The trip was never arranged and the Iranian government has yet to respond to France’s initiative.” “France still insists that implementation of the agreements reached in that meeting in 2007 is a precondition to improve the relations between the two countries,” the former foreign minister added. “There have been good opportunities to prevent the ratification of international sanctions on Iran, but unfortunately proper measures have not been taken,” Velayati explained.