Iran's Rouhani suggests critics benefited from sanctions

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during an event to mark Nawroz, the Persian New Year, in Kabul March 27, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

DUBAI (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani, in a riposte to hardliners who suggest he is capitulating to the West, accused critics of his government on Tuesday of using lies and exaggeration to oppose his policies, including Iran's nuclear talks with world powers.

In an interview on state television, Rouhani suggested his critics were a "tiny minority" who had profited from sanctions and feared losing out if curbs were removed with an eventual resolution of Iran's nuclear dispute with the West.