Republican Representative Mark Kirk, who is running for President Barack Obama's former Senate seat, assailed Biden over his charge that planned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem hurt prospects for Middle East peace.

"I urge the administration to spend more time working to stop Iran from building nuclear bombs and less time concerned with zoning issues in Jerusalem," Kirk said in a statement.

"As Iran accelerates its uranium enrichment, we should not be condemning one of America's strongest democratic allies in the Middle East," said the lawmaker.

His comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "regret" for announcing plans for the construction of 1,600 settler homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem while Biden met with Israeli leaders on Tuesday.

"History teaches us that a divided Jerusalem leads to conflict while a unified Jerusalem protects the rights of all faiths," said Kirk, who helped draft a US law calling for moving Washington's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Iran denies Western charges that it is on a covert quest to develop nuclear weapons, insisting that it needs an atomic program to produce energy for civilian uses.

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