|
Tehran: Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador on Sunday to protest the European country's policy toward Tehran's nuclear programme, state media reported.
France has been a vocal supporter of new sanctions against Iran for the country's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.
"In the meeting [with the French ambassador], Iran protested France's policy toward Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," said a report on the website of Iran's state broadcasting company.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hussaini accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of open hostility toward Iran.
"We have been witnessing hostile stances from Sarkozy and his administration," said Hosseini during his weekly press briefing.
Ahmadinejad comments
"In the case of the continuation of that policy, we will revise our stance, which has been based on self-restraint so far," added Hosseini, without providing details.
Hussaini said Iran would also protest France's recent decision to summon the Iranian ambassador to Paris over comments made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Israel.
During a speech delivered on Wednesday in the southern port of Bushehr, Ahmadinejad implied that Israel would be destroyed.
"The lifetime of criminals and invaders [Israel] is over," Iranian state media reported Ahmadinejad as saying, referring to Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in the Gaza Strip.
"Powerful hands of Palestinians and regional nations will hit the last blow of destruction against the criminals." French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said on Friday that the ministry had summoned Iran's ambassador to Paris, Ali Ahani, to protest the "unacceptable character of such hostile comments about a member state of the United Nations."
Ahani was also told that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "could not be used as a pretext to question Israel's fundamental right to exist," according to Andreani.
The permanent members of the UN Security Council, including France, are considering a new draft resolution that calls for additional sanctions against Iran, including bans on travel.
Two sets of sanctions have already been imposed on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment. France also has led a separate push for new sanctions by the 27-member European Union.
|
