Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday praised US participation in last week’s talks with Tehran on its disputed nuclear program as “a positive step” and said its arch foe had shown respect.

“I advise you not to spoil this positive step ... by using the language of colonial times and by bullying,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

But Ahmadinejad, who was unusually complimentary in his comments about a representative of a country Iran’s clerical leaders see as “the Great Satan”, made clear Tehran would not halt atomic work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

At Saturday’s meeting with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator in Geneva, six world powers gave Iran two weeks to answer calls to rein in its nuclear activities or face more sanctions.

“If you imagine that by some threats, sanctions and pressure you can make the Iranian nation retreat, you are again making a mistake,” Ahmadinejad said in the southern city of Yasuj.

In a shift of policy, senior US diplomat William Burns joined European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and envoys from China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany for the one-day meeting on July 19.

Some Iranian media said this was a victory for Iran.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday said Iran must give a “serious answer” within the deadline set by major powers, which have offered trade and technical incentives if Tehran halts uranium enrichment. She said Iran’s envoy to the talks, Saeed Jalili, did not address the sextet’s offer.

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