"The European proposal is an excessive demand that is contrary to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and unacceptable," Alaeddin Brujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, told conservative newspaper Ressalat.

Britain, France and Germany presented Iran with a deal Thursday aimed at avoiding possible UN sanctions under which Tehran would receive valuable nuclear technology if it indefinitely suspended all uranium enrichment activities, according to a document prepared by the Europeans.

"The European offer is a denial of the Iranian nation's legal rights bestowed under the NPT," Brujerdi said. "The Islamic republic of Iran will not accept a (Western) monopoly on nuclear technology and will pursue its activities with determination."

Thursday's meeting was to give Iran a last chance to come clean before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decides on November 25 whether Iran is cooperating with the UN watchdog on its nuclear activities.

The United States wants the IAEA, which since February 2003 has been investigating US claims that Iran has a covert nuclear weapons programme, to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

Under the deal offered Thursday, Iran would receive technology including a light-water reactor which would produce less fissionable material than the heavy-water reactor Tehran is planning to build.

Iran has insisted on its right to uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian reactors but can also manufacture the explosive material for atomic bombs.

The official state news agency IRNA quoted an anonymous diplomat in Vienna saying that the next round of talks between Iran and the European Three would start Wednesday.

On October 5, the parliamentary committee headed by Brujerdi approved a bill that would force the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami to resume uranium enrichment in defiance of the IAEA.

If eventually passed in the Majlis (parliament) and approved by legislative watchdogs, it would almost certainly prompt the IAEA to refer Iran's case to the Security Council.

"The plan to oblige the government to resume enrichment has the support of 238 deputies" out of a total 290, said Brujerdi.

In a report published last week the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a military and defence think tank, said that assuming Iran lifts the suspension on its enrichment programme, "it is still probably a few years away from full scale production of enough enriched uranium for a small nuclear arsenal.