Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Sunday criticized the remarks of French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Iran's nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mehmanparast said that Iran's nuclear program is "peaceful and transparent" and Iran maintains constant and close cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Sarkozy on Friday stressed the urgent need for increased efforts to avoid a military intervention in Iran, while asking for tough sanctions to stop its uranium enrichment program.

"Military intervention would not solve the problem, but it would unleash war and chaos in the Middle East," Sarkozy said when presenting his new year's greetings to diplomatic corps.

Meanwhile, the president called for "tougher sanctions" against Iran, including an embargo on its oil exports and the freeze of Iranian central bank's assets.

Sarkozy also called on Iran to "negotiate seriously" over its nuclear program.

Mehmanparast said on Sunday that "It seems that the French president is seeking a pretext to create more pressure on Iran through imposing illegal and unfair sanctions, but he should know that such efforts are known and rejected by the world public opinion," according to IRNA.

The spokesman said that Iran avoids useless political arguments and believes that only serious negotiation and cooperation could lead to an understanding.

"However, it seems that President Sarkozy is following other ways other than peace and sustainable security in the sensitive region of the Middle East, which certainly lead to nowhere," he was quoted as saying.

Following the release of an IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program in November, the United States, Britain and Canada announced new sanctions against Iran and are working to impose an embargo on the country's crude oil exports.

In the report, the IAEA said Iran appeared to have sought nuclear weapon-making capabilities. But Tehran rejected the report and insisted that its nuclear program was purely for peaceful purposes.