US President Barack Obama says 'rejecting Iran nuclear deal is a vote for war'

President Barack Obama continues his push to seal the Iran nuclear deal, framing a congressional vote on lifting sanctions as either a vote for war or for peace.

Mr Obama will speak at American University in Washington on Wednesday.

Lawmakers in Congress have come under intense pressure from Israeli interest groups to reject the deal.

His speech comes as Congress prepares to vote its approval or disproval of the agreement.

In a conference call arranged by a Jewish organisation on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected the notion that a vote against the deal is a vote for war.

Instead, a vote for the deal would make war more likely, Mr Netanyahu argued.

"It will spark a nuclear arms race in the region," Mr Netanyahu said. "And it would feed Iran's terrorism and aggression that would make war, perhaps the most horrific war of all, far more likely."

Pro-Israel lobbyists have put intense pressure on members of congress to reject the nuclear deal

Mr Obama and Vice President Biden have met with 20 Jewish leaders to try to allay their concerns.

Secretary of State John Kerry, as well other White House officials to negotiated the deal, have been testifying before several congressional committees in support.

The speech comes as members of Congress prepare to return to their home states for the summer recess.

Mike Huckabee, a Republican candidate for president, drew criticism for saying that Obama will "take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven," an apparent reference to the Nazi Holocaust.

President John F Kennedy in 1963, spoke at the same Washington DC area university in support of diplomacy with the Soviet Union.

"No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue," Mr Kennedy told students.

The Iran deal is considered a signature achievement of Mr Obama's foreign policy legacy. He and his aides will work through the summer recess to convince lawmakers to confirm the deal.

The nuclear deal calls for Iran to reduce its enrichment in exchange for the releasing of millions of dollars in frozen assets.

Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate, drew criticism for comparing the deal to the Holocaust