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Tehran says resignation won't affect nuclear policy

Iran insisted yesterday that its policy in the nuclear crisis with the West would not change after the sudden resignation of chief negotiator Ali Larijani, amid fears his successor would take an even tougher line.

Larijani, who was seen as having a moderating influence on nuclear policy, stepped down following a prolonged disagreement with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the handling of Tehran's position in the standoff.

His successor, Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Jalili, is a hardliner and a close confidant of the president, and is believed by analysts to share Ahmadinejad's refusal of offering any concession to the West.

But foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini insisted the change in personnel did not herald any switch in policy.

"The resignation of Mr Larijani was agreed by the president but the policies and strategies of the Islamic republic on the nuclear issue are unchangeable goals," he told reporters.

Ahmadinejad's senior adviser, Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, told state news agency IRNA: "With the replacement of individuals there is no change in the Islamic republic's nuclear policies."

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham, who announced the resignation on Saturday, said Larijani had already offered to quit "several times" -- a clear indication he was unhappy with Tehran's nuclear policy.

However, Larijani will still join his successor for talks on Iran's nuclear program with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Rome tomorrow, Hosseini said.

Larijani is to remain on the council in his position as the representative of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hosseini declined to confirm that the Rome meeting would be Larijani's last.

The top nuclear negotiator -- whose official title is secretary of the Supreme National Security Council -- has the job of leading talks with the EU and UN nuclear watchdog on Iran's nuclear case.

The change comes at an acutely sensitive time, with Western powers urging more UN sanctions action against Tehran and threatening unilateral measures of their own.

The US and European allies accuse Tehran of seeking a nuclear bomb, a charge vehemently denied by Iran which insists that its atomic drive is solely aimed at generating energy.

The extent or content of the disagreement between Larijani and Ahmadinejad was never made public, although it was an open secret in Tehran that the two did not see eye-to-eye.

While Larijani is a conservative and regime insider, his wordy and sometimes moderate rhetoric contrasted markedly with the provocative broadsides against the West issued by the president.
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