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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint session of Congress that removing economic sanctions on Iran would have terrible outcomes. Here are highlights from his speech. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forcefully argued against a nuclear deal with Iran, telling a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday that such an agreement would have the opposite effect of what the international community intends because it would effectively supply Iran with the means to produce a nuclear weapon.

The agreement being negotiated doesnt block Irans path to the bomb; it paves Irans path to the bomb, Netanyahu said. So why would anyone make this deal?

Netanyahu's speech generated a swirl of controversy before it was even delivered and laid bare fissures between the prime minister and the Obama administration. Netanyahu used the address to paint Iran as a sponsor of terrorism that is aggressively marching across the Middle East and would exploit a deal to satisfy its own nuclear ambitions.

Netanyahu said the country's "tentacles of terror" pose a "grave threat" toIsrael and the world. The prime minister expressed his concernsabout enriched uranium and Iranian nuclear research and development, as well as his worries about the approach taken to the international nuclear talks.

"This is a bad deal. A very bad deal. We are better off without it," he said. "Why should Irans radical regime change for the better when it can enjoy the best of both worlds? Aggression abroad, prosperity at home?"

He was greeted with raucous applause in the House chamber and was interrupted numerous times by standing ovations.

We must all stand together to stop Irans march of conquest, subjugation and terror," he said, asserting that Iranand the Islamic State are "competing for the crown of militant Islam."

[The complete transcript of Netanyahu's address to Congress]

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were talking in Geneva on Tuesday ahead of a March 24 deadline on the framework for a nuclear deal.

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Netanyahu warns that nuclear deal paves Irans path to a bomb