Ahmadinejad: We 'Won't Retreat an Iota' from Atomic Rights

Iran "will not retreat an iota" from its nuclear rights, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday, ahead of weekend talks in Istanbul with world powers over Tehran's atomic activities.

"The Iranian nation is standing firm on its fundamental rights and under the harshest pressure will not retreat an iota from its undeniable right," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the southern town of Minab, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"On behalf of the Iranian nation, I advise the enemies and the arrogance (the United States) to change their behavior towards our nation, and they should know that the Iranians are standing firm in defending their rights," he said.

His language indicated a defiant attitude by Iran as its negotiators go into the Istanbul talks on Saturday across from representatives of the so-called P5+1 group comprising the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

"The Iranian delegation will have new initiatives and we hope that the other party will have a constructive approach," said Iran's top negotiator in nuclear talks Wednesday, raising hopes that Tehran might have a plan to change dynamics.

The so-called P5+1 powers have imposed increasingly severe economic sanctions on the Islamic republic to pressure it to halt activities, notably uranium enrichment -- moves that instead pushed Iran to accelerate its nuclear pursuit, which it says has no military dimensions.