Asylum seeker sets himself ablaze in Germany

German authorities say a rejected asylum seeker from Iran suffered serious injuries after setting fire to himself at a town office near the southwestern city of Ulm.

Police said the 35-year-old, whose name wasn't released, entered the town office in Goeppingen midday Tuesday and asked two employees for help, showing them papers indicating his application for asylum had been rejected.

Ulm police say the staff assured him they would help, but the man became aggressive and then pulled a bottle out of his backpack, poured liquid over himself and set fire to it as the two workers fled.

A third worker grabbed towels from a cleaner's cart and suffocated the flames.

Police say the man was rushed to hospital by helicopter and is being treated for severe burns.

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Iran nuclear accord helped concerned world leaders in dealing with the Islamic Republic, pushing back against Washington's rejection of the deal.

The German chancellor echoed sentiments earlier this month by other major European countries, which maintain that the deal is the most effective way to stop the increasingly influential regional power from obtaining an atomic weapon.

"The question is whether you can talk better if you terminate an agreement or if you stay in it... we say you can talk better if you remain in it," she said.

"This agreement is everything other than ideal, but Iran is, according to all the knowledge of the international nuclear authorities, sticking to the commitments of the agreement."