Iran's foreign minister hit back on Tuesday against US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's warning that the Islamic republic is becoming a military dictatorship.

Iran has indicated that a crucial deal with major western powers to ease concerns about its controversial nuclear programme could reached in "not too distant future", amid warnings of sanctions.

Iran would be willing to swap nuclear material with the West in Turkey, the foreign minister said in the country's latest counter-offer to a UN-drafted deal aimed at thwarting Tehran's ability to produce atomic weapons.

Iran is not ruling out talks about its nuclear program with world powers but conditions for that have to be right, the country's top diplomat said on Saturday, in a statement that appeared to soften Tehran's persistent refusal to discuss the controversial issue.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned the West on Sunday not to push for talks with the Taliban militia, which had stormy relations with Tehran when it ruled Afghanistan up to 2001.