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Tehran: Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has resigned and the man named to replace Ali Larijani could present the West with a harder line in a long-running dispute over Tehran's atomic ambitions.
Yesterday's announcement exposed a rift over tactics with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accepted Larijani's resignation and has taken an uncompromising approach in the nuclear standoff.
Analysts say Saeed Jalili, the senior foreign ministry official replacing Larijani, is close to the president and his appointment showed that those determined to defy the West were gaining a greater influence in decision-making.
A government spokes-man said there would be no policy change.
Western states fear Tehran wants to build atomic bombs. They have imposed two sets of sanctions through the United Nations and are considering a third. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, insists its aim is only to produce electricity.
"Larijani has resigned due to personal reasons, but this does not mean changes in policies and programmes," said government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, the official Irna news agency reported.
Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and chief nuclear negotiator since 2005, had been set to meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Rome on Tuesday for more discussions about Iran's nuclear ambitions.
EU talks to go ahead
The European Union said the talks would go ahead. "We have just spoken to the Iranians. Solana is keeping to his plan to travel to Rome and will meet whatever senior negotiator the Iranians send," an EU spokeswoman said.
European officials say Larijani had difficulty getting the Iranian establishment to support his negotiating strategy, even though he stuck firmly to the broader policy of refusing to halt sensitive nuclear work in Iran.
Iranian analysts said Larijani sought to persuade the West to ease pressure on Iran and was regarded as a pragmatist. But they say Ahmadinejad's verbal broadsides against Western states and refusal to show any flexibility undermined those efforts.
Profile: From media to security
Following are some key facts about Ali Larijani:
- Larijani was head of Iran's state broadcasting monopoly for 10 years before stepping down in 2004 to become a security adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- A former member of the Revolutionary Guards, he ran in the 2005 presidential race. He came well behind several other candidates, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who went on to win.
- In 2005, Larijani was appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a body which helps draw up nuclear policies.
- Larijani took a tough line on the nuclear file before his appointment as negotiator. He said that if Iran took EU incentives in return for Iran giving up its nuclear fuel cycle, it would be like exchanging "a pearl for a candy bar".
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