Mohammad Khatami slams Ahmadinejad foreign policy

AFP Reports: Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami criticised the government's confrontational foreign policy, saying it plays into the hands of the enemy, in comments reported on Sunday.

"Aggressive and sharp slogans play into the enemy's hands to hurt the country and the system," Kargozaran newspaper quoted the reformist Khatami as saying in a speech in western Iran.

"Fighting the arrogance (the United States) should not mean increasing the costs of running the country."

Khatami was alluding to the defiant position taken by his successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear programme, which has prompted three sets of UN sanctions.

Since taking office in 2005, Ahmadinejad has also drawn international condemnation for his vitriolic verbal attacks on Israel, which he said was doomed to disappear.

Khatami also hit out at his successor's administration for "presenting wrong statistics" about its economic achievements over the past three years.

There has been speculation that Khatami, who was president from 1997 to 2005, may seek a third term in office in 2009.

Ahmadinejad, who put social justice on top his agenda when he campaigned for president, has come under fire from reformists and conservatives alike for his expansionist economic policies amid rising inflation.

Last week, former national security chief Hassan Rowhani accused Ahmadinejad of missing "golden opportunities" for growth offered by the high oil prices of the past year.

"Careless comments and slogans have inflicted enormous costs on the country and the people," said Rowhani, who was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator under Khatami's presidency.

He said "import costs have risen by 20 to 30 percent" as Iran's banking system has been hit by foreign sanctions.

He called on the government to pursue a "policy of detente" with the international community.

A moderate conservative who is close to another former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Rowhani too has been talked about as a possible contender in the 2009 election.