Iran rejected on Tuesday as "unacceptable" US President Barack Obama's demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years but said it would continue talks on a deal, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Iran laid out the position as the US and Iranian foreign ministers met for a second day of negotiations and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stinging critique of the agreement they are trying to hammer out.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry met a day after Obama told Reuters that Iran must commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear work for a landmark atomic deal to be reached.
"Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands," Zarif was quoted by Fars as saying.
"Obama’s stance ... is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases," he was reported as saying, adding that talks with Kerry in Switzerland would nonetheless carry on.
The aim of the negotiations is to persuade Iran to restrain its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions that have crippled the oil exporter's economy, thereby reducing the risk of war over the protracted dispute.
The United States and some of its allies, notably Israel, suspect Iran of using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies this, saying it is for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity.
Speaking before the US Congress in Washington, Netanyahu warned Obama against accepting a nuclear deal with Iran that would be a "countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare" by a country that "will always be an enemy of America".
"If the deal now being negotiated is accepted by Iran, that deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons - it will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them," the Israeli leader said in a 39-minute point-by-point critique of Obama's Iran diplomacy.
Obama later said Netanyahu had offered no "viable alternatives" in his speech for dealing with Tehran and urged Congress to withhold judgement until an agreement with Iran had been finalised. Obama said he would only agree to a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
