The Iranian government has said the country’s nuclear program is peaceful, rejecting remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran was pursuing a nuclear bomb.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Iran’s activities were “transparent” and in “cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On January 20, Sarkozy accused Iran of pursuing a “senseless race for a nuclear bomb.”

Mehmanparast accused Sarkozy of “looking for a pretext to put pressure on the Iranian nation.”

He also said a planned oil embargo by the European Union was a “totally wrong course” and would not solve the nuclear dispute.

compiled from agency reports