French President Nicolas Sarkozy slammed the Iranian leadership Monday, saying the Iranian people deserved better. "The people of Iran deserve better than their current leaders," Sarkozy said on Monday in Berlin following his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I want to say how much we admire the courage of the Iranian people," he said, according to AFP.
The two leaders also reiterated that they wanted tighter sanctions against Tehran if it fails to engage with the international community over its disputed nuclear programme. "It is important that a clear statement comes from Iran on whether they are interested in talks, on whether they accept the offers of the international community," the German leader convyed.
"If that is not the case then we will of course have to discuss in September, including in Pittsburgh (at the G20 summit on September 24-25), further sanctions. "France and Germany are both of the opinion that harder sanctions would then have to follow," she said.
