TEHRAN — Iran’s president said Sunday his country would not surrender what it considers its right to nuclear development in upcoming talks with world powers but it would be ‘‘transparent’’ in negotiations over the contested program.
The talks, resuming Tuesday, face an informal July deadline to hammer out a final deal to limit Iran’s ability to build nuclear arms in exchange for ending crippling economic sanctions.
While President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s negotiators have the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hard-liners increasingly criticize the potential deal as giving up too much while gaining too little from the West.
Speaking Sunday to a group of Iranian medical and nuclear experts, Rouhani appeared to be trying to counter the criticism: ‘‘If the world seeks good relations with Iran, it should choose the way of surrendering to Iran’s rights, respecting the Iranian nation, and praising Iranian scientists.”
“The Iranian nation has never been after a weapon of mass destruction since it does not see it as legitimate,’’ he said. “We do not have anything on the table to submit to others except transparency.”