A former French prime minister says the imposition of sanctions on Iran is an inappropriate means to address Tehran's nuclear issue.
Dominique de Villepin made the remarks in an interview with the Russian state-run channel 2 TV late on Saturday, according to IRNA.
"France initially took part in the campaign to impose sanctions against Iran, but was afflicted with some troubles later on," he said.
He described Iran's nuclear dossier as a major international issue and said, "Finding a solution to Iran's nuclear issue is high on the world community's agenda."
The former official referred to the nuclear negotiations underway between Iran and world powers and said, “The two sides are scheduled to reach a final agreement by the November 24 deadline and now are trying to prepare the agreement.”
He expressed discontent with the sanctions against Iran and said, “The major powers are insistent on the imposition of sanctions and rely on them as an option.”
He emphasized that countries should negotiate and cooperate to find solutions to their problems. De Villepin added, “The major powers should abandon mere words and take concrete actions. There must be effective tools for negotiations in international interactions which are lacking at present.”
He stated that efforts should be made to build trust among countries to facilitate the process of finding solutions to global problems.
“There is a sense of mistrust in the nuclear negotiations, but there is still an opportunity to dispel such feeling and the two sides should consider the other side’s interests and demands and stick to international standards.”
De Villepin referred to the measures taken by some Western countries led by the United States who have resorted to unilateralism in international interactions as a root cause of the prevailing mistrust. He said, “It is necessary to avoid using force to solve international issues and instead rely on diplomatic solutions.”
