France said Wednesday it was " surprised" by remarks made by International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA)'s director general Mohamed El Baradei on the Iranian nuclear issue, affirming France shares the "substance of concerns" expressed by Americans over the subject.

El Baradei had declared last weekend "the important issue is to focus on negotiating to limit the program to a level short of" industrial scale," instead of insisting Iran must cease all enrichment activities totally.

"We were actually surprised by El Baradei's remark over the weekend," affirmed French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei while answering a question on the issue during a press briefing.

"Concerning the strategy being pursued and on suspension, France will continue to support the process engaged by the UN security Council, including the demand for total suspension of enrichment activities, failure to which further sanctions will be imposed on Iran," said the spokesman.

"IAEA's director general referred, in one of his public declarations, to an assessment conducted by French intelligence services on the time limit for Iran to acquire a nuclear arm. These remarks have no basis whatsoever. I would like to reiterate what various highest French state authorities have stated in the past, the prospects of an Iran armed with nuclear military capability is not acceptable," Mattei said.

"We have stated sanctions are not the end by themselves, but they are meant to give Iran a choice. UN security Council's unanimity on the adoption of resolutions 1737 and 1747 clearly demonstrates the international community's concern in this regard," he said.

"Resolution 1747 is very clear: if Iran does not conform to its obligations, the security council will embark on the adoption of new measures as stipulated by article 41 of chapter VII," he said.