German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that the country must be shown that the West has zero tolerance.

[Angela Merkel, German Chancellor]:
"A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian president who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist is not acceptable.”

Merkel made her remarks to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

Tehran and Washington have been at odds for years over Iran's nuclear program which Western powers fear is a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied that and says it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.

Western powers have urged Iran to accept a draft deal in which it would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad by the end of the year. It would then receive further enrichment to turn it into fuel for a medical reactor in Tehran.

However, on Monday an Iranian diplomat said additional talks were needed on the U.N.-drafted nuclear deal. Tehran wants to import atomic fuel rather than send its own uranium abroad for processing.