Tehran refutes French president’s nuclear claims

TEHRAN, Feb. 18(MNA) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the French president’s remarks about Iran’s nuclear program are politically motivated and are intended to put into question the “peaceful and transparent nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.” French President Nicholas Sarkozy has ignored Iran’s “continued and close cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency, especially the fact that a delegation of IAEA inspectors visited Iran recently, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Friday. The unsubstantiated claims by Sarkozy are made with the aim of justifying France’s illegal and unjust sanctions against Tehran, Mehmanparast said, adding that the French leader Sarkozy is unhappy about Iran’s increasing scientific and technological progress. “Mr. Sarkozy has made no mention of the occupying Zionist regime’s nuclear plants and atomic warheads which are in fact a threat to regional and international peace, and this is an indication of a double-standard and selective approach which is unacceptable in our view,” he noted.