Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami has criticized the government's confrontational foreign policy, saying it plays into enemy hands and harms the country, a newspaper 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 referring to the administration of his successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has defiantly vowed to press ahead with Iran's nuclear ambitions despite being slapped with three sets of U.N. 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.

Vice President and close aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie also drew criticism Sunday for remarks he made about Israelm as Iranian MPs began new moves to strip him of his position as vice president, according to the Fars news agency.

The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, has led international efforts to halt Tehran's uranium enrichment work -- the process which makes nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atom bomb.

Iran denies the U.S. allegation, insisting it only wants to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes as outlined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The reformist former president also hit out at Ahmadinejad'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 and rising inflation.

Vice President Mashaie's remark that Iranians are "friends with Israelis" in July sparked fury among conservatives and more than 200 MPs urged Ahmadinejad to take action against his ally and confidant.

Mashaie is one of 10 vice presidents and is immune from impeachment, according to the agency.

But Mashaie, whose daughter is married to the president's son, vowed to remain in the job despite mounting calls on him to resign.

Ahmadinejad has also ignored the criticism of his close aide.

Iran does not recognize the Jewish state and Ahmadinejad earned notoriety shortly after his 2005 election by saying that Israel should be "wiped off the map", quoting Iran's revolutionary leader ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.