LONDON, United Kingdom - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on the US to raise the bar in its nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

In an X post on Monday, Araghchi described Netanyahu's statements as "fantasy" and "detached from reality."

He was responding to the Israeli premier's address to the Jewish News Syndicate policy conference in Jerusalem. Netanyahu asserted that any nuclear deal with Iran must eliminate its ability to enrich uranium. "A bad deal is worse than no deal," he argued, adding that his government has communicated the same demand to the US authorities and remains in close contact with them.

Araghchi found Netanyahu to be "brazenly" dictating what President Donald Trump "can and cannot do" in his diplomacy with Iran.

Iran and the United States have recently held three rounds of nuclear negotiations—twice in Muscat and once in Rome—with the diplomatic initiative expected to continue onto more technical discussions.

Iran's capacity to maintain its nuclear enrichment program remains the most contentious issue in the talks, on which the two sides have yet to agree.

Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio conditioned any accord on dismantling all Iranian nuclear enrichment, which Tehran has persistently called a non-negotiable issue.

Suggesting that Israel is seeking to sabotage the talks, Araghchi said Iran is confident enough to thwart those alleged measures, hoping that the United States is "equally steadfast" to that end.  

The Iranian foreign minister also brushed off longstanding Israeli threats to strike his country's nuclear sites, stressing Tehran's resilience, with a warning that potential Israeli attacks will be "immediately reciprocated."

In his latest comments on the nuclear talks, President Trump struck a positive note on Sunday, telling reporters aboard Air Force One upon return from Pope Francis' funeral in Rome that Washington is very close to finalizing an accord with Tehran. He did not, however, elaborate on where the two sides stand on the thorny issue of enrichment.