Iran's nuclear negotiator step-down seen as victory for hard-liners

The Iranian government announced today that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned, a move seen as a victory for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that could bring about an even tougher stance in ongoing talks.

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham, said Saeed Jalili, a little-known deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, was to succeed Ali Larijani as lead negotiator effective immediately.

Larijani in many cases held a hard-line view on the nuclear stand-off between Iran and the West but was also considered to be a more moderate figure than Ahmadinejad within Iran’s hard-line camp. He was seen as more committed to a diplomatic solution over Iran’s nuclear programme while Ahmadinejad is not seen as favouring talks with the West.

Larijani’s resignation was interpreted by many here as giving Ahmadinejad a free hand in dictating his views to the less experienced Jalili.

Elham did not give a specific reason for Larijani’s resignation other than to say he wanted to focus on “other political activities”.

“Larijani had resigned repeatedly. Finally, the president accepted his resignation,” Elham told reporters.

The US and some of its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim, saying its programme is for peaceful purposes including generating electricity.

Elham stressed that Iran’s nuclear policy would not change because of Larijani’s resignation.

“Iran’s nuclear policies are stabilised and unchangeable. Managerial change won’t bring any changes in (those) policies,” Elham said.

The spokesman said a meeting between the nuclear negotiator and the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, scheduled for Tuesday in Rome would still take place.

“Despite Larijani’s resignation, meetings ... won’t change. Larijani’s successor will meet Solana instead,” Elham said.

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN and before that the Bush administration’s point man on the Iran nuclear issue, said Larijani’s resignation was “a clear victory for Ahmadinejad” and shows that “the leadership is determined to continue with nuclear programme” including uranium enrichment.

Bolton said the conflict between Larijani and Ahmadinejad is “part of the larger struggle for power after (Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei dies.”

“It’s more about personalities and internal polices, but Ahmadinejad saw Larijani as someone with a different perspective on (nuclear) negotiations,” Bolton, told The Associated Press, suggesting Larijani was more moderate.

Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005 and appointed Larijani, a former Revolutionary Guards Corps commander and a close ally of Khamenei to replace Hasan Rowhani, considered a moderate politician. Ahmadinejad had accused Rowhani and his team of technocrats as weak and giving too many concessions in nuclear talks with European nations.

After Larijani was appointed, Iran took a more defiant approach to its nuclear programme. It resumed uranium enrichment activities, leading to its referral to the UN Security Council by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2006. Iran’s refusal to halt enrichment subsequently prompted a resolution by the UN Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran in December 2006 and another resolution widening the sanctions in March.

In 2006, Larijani rejected Western economic incentives in return for a suspension of Iran’s nuclear activities, saying the Security Council “should not think that they can make us happy with candies”.

However, differences between Larijani and Ahmadinejad were revealed earlier this year when Larijani became upset after the president contradicted him on whether Iran would attend a meeting in Egypt to discuss Iraq. Larijani travelled to Baghdad in May to discuss Iran’s conditions for attending the meeting but was upset after a reporter at the Baghdad airport said Ahmadinejad had already confirmed that Iran would attend.

Larijani’s absence during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Khamenei, last week further raised eyebrows in Iran’s political circles.

Before he was appointed, Larijani was the head of Iran’s state-run radio and television network and was seen as one of the hard-liners’ most effective weapon in curtailing former President Mohammad Khatami’s reform programme. At the time, Larijani used the official media as a weapon to suppress democratic reforms and prohibited the broadcast of information that might have been harmful to hard-line clerics.