TEHRAN -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared here on Friday that the Western powers should take Iran’s warning “seriously” regarding their wrong policies against the Islamic Republic.

Addressing the Western powers in a Friday prayer sermon, Rafsanjani said, “You have adopted a wrong path, and through such approaches you only put Iran and the region in trouble, and will not benefit from such behavior.”He said the West should “take this warning seriously and stop its wrong and hegemonic approaches.”The warning came as the 27-nation European Union on Monday agreed new sanctions on Iran.The sanctions move came as a surprise to Iranians as Tehran was still studying an updated package that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana submitted to Iranian officials during his visit to Tehran on June 14.The sanctions include an asset freeze on Iran’s largest state bank, Bank Melli, an act which Rafsanjani described as “insolent”.The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has the legal right to enrichment for civilian purposes.The former president said Iran has repeatedly declared that it does not seek nuclear weapons and only wants to develop its industry and benefit from peaceful nuclear energy.“We are prepared to build trust through political negotiations,” Rafsanjani asserted.“They want to put extra pressure on us,” he said.Rafsanjani also called the G8 foreign ministers’ statement on Iran “duplicitous”.The Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting in Japan on Friday issued a statement urging Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.The Group of Eight comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.“We have advised the Western powers several times that their rhetoric against Iran is not to their interest and will not resolve the issue,” Rafsanjani said.He told the West, “You are too insignificant to say if Iran should be rewarded or punished.”He said a country like Iran can only be approached through “appropriate rhetoric, negotiations, and reasonable statements”.The statements by Rafsanjani followed a warning by Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani who on Wednesday advised the world powers to heed IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s warnings and stop “provoking” Iran.Earlier this months ElBaradei said he would offer his resignation if the Islamic Republic was attacked.Larijani said the distrustful atmosphere created by the West’s recent behavior has left little chance for interaction. The European Union needs to adopt “constructive and logical” strategies to regain Iran’s trust, he added.“If you intend to hold talks with Iran over the package of proposals, why have you taken the path of confrontation before the package is investigated?” he asked the European Union.The Majlis speaker warned that Iran is scrutinizing the EU’s actions and will revise its cooperation “if they decide to use negotiations as a means of justifying their illegal measures.