Iran's new nuclear negotiator makes his debut in Rome

Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator made his international debut in Rome on Tuesday to a chorus of unusually blunt criticism by politicians in Tehran that the departure of his predecessor was unwise.

Saeed Jalili, the negotiator, met with the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been asked by the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to find a formula to persuade Iran to suspend key nuclear activities.

Curiously, at Jalili's side was Ali Larijani, his predecessor, who took the lead in Tuesday's closed-door talks and in remarks afterward to reporters.

Solana described the talks as "constructive," and Larijani said they were "good." But there was no movement on the one issue that matters: Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as required by the UN Security Council, said participants in the meeting who spoke under normal diplomatic rules.

And just hours before the talks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, repeated his vow never to give in on that issue.

"Iran will not retreat one iota," he said on state-run television on a trip to Armenia, adding: "We are in favor of talks, but we will not negotiate with anyone about our right to nuclear technology."

In the Rome meeting, both sides were relaxed even as they spoke past each other, participants said. Larijani stressed that Iran was cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency in answering questions about Iran's nuclear activities in the past, and therefore should be rewarded, not punished, by the international community.

Solana said, as he has in the past, that the Security Council requires Iran to suspend its production of enriched uranium, which can be used for civilian or military purposes.

"Suspension is the crucial issue if the Iranians want to get off the hook of more sanctions," one participant said. "They seem to think they are doing enough."

The brief news conference after the meeting revealed nothing about the fundamental divide.

"Negotiation and cooperation is our basic approach," Jalili said, adding that it was necessary to first "address the misunderstandings."

Larijani said: "We are after no adventure and we are after no troublemaking."