TEHRAN: Iran on Monday rejected as "illegitimate and illogical" Western demands that it suspend sensitive nuclear activities as world powers met in London to discuss the atomic standoff.

"The demand to suspend legal and peaceful activities which are under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an illegitimate demand and against the national will," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.

"The government has the duty to act in line with the national will and a demand to suspend legal and logical work is not compatible with their (the people's) dignity," he added.