TEHRAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Iran would reject a deal with the European Union which plans to offer incentives in exchange for Iran's halting uranium enrichment.

   "They (EU countries) say that they want to give us incentives. They think that they can take away our gold and give us some nuts and chocolate in exchange," said Ahmadinejad.

   "We don't need incentives. There is no need to give us incentives. Just don't try to wrong us," he stressed.

   The hardline president also said that Iran would categorically reject international demands for Tehran to return to a suspension of sensitive uranium enrichment work.

   Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a rally in Arak, the capital city of Markazi province, southwest of Tehran. His speech was broadcast live on state television.

   Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that Iran was open to any proposal to resolve the nuclear issue as long as its "legal and inalienable rights" to pursue nuclear energy under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) were recognized, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday. Enditem