Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani announced his resignation this weekend, surprising the international community at a critical time, with Western powers urging more UN sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program and even threatening to attack the Islamic Republic.
Larijani has been leading sensetive talks with the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to broker a compromise over Iran’s nuclear program.
Although described as having a moderate stance regarding Tehran’s nuclear policy, Larijani failed to overcome the key point in the dispute -- Tehran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities which the West claims is aimed at making a nuclear program, despite Iran’s insistence that it’s strictly peaceful.
Now analysts say that Larijani’s departure signals a major shift in Iran’s nuclear policy.
Like every Iranian, Larijani, often labelled a “conservative”, strongly supports Iran’s nuclear program. He stood for president at the last election, and was backed by the Revolutionary Guards, as was President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Although both strongly support Iran’s nuclear plans, Larijani, whose official title is secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, had huge differences with Ahmadinejad over how to proceed the nuclear program. However, the extent of the disagreement between them was never made public.
Alex Bigham, head of the London-based Foreign Policy Centre's Iran research programme, told AFP that there were two chief reasons for Larijani's sudden resignation. "One is his longstanding disagreement with Ahmadinejad over how to handle the nuclear dispute with the UN, and the second reason is his own political ambitions," he said.
According to the BBC, Larijani strongly supports negotiations to resolve the nuclear standoff with the West.
Although Ahmadinejad always says that his country is willing to hold talks with the West, he recently announced at the United Nations that the nuclear "case was closed".
Without compromises from the West or Iran, any talks are doomed to failure.
Things got more complicated after Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he offered a new compromise on the nuclear stand-off when he visited Tehran on Tuesday, a landmark visit that showed Russia‘s support for Iran‘s nuclear program.
Larijani said Putin’s proposals were worth considering, but Ahmadinejad rejected the ideas. The Iranian president even said that Putin didn’t offer any new proposals.
Despite Ahmadinejad’s denial of Putin‘s offer, the Iranian government is willing to hold more talks with the West. A new round of discussions with the EU envoy Javier Solana will go ahead in Rome on Tuesday as planned.
Because Larijani will stay on the Supreme National Security Council in his position as the representative of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he will join the Rome talks, which will be led by his successor, Saeed Jalili, a deputy foreign minister who is a close confident of Ahmadinejad.
The close relationship between the Iranian president and Jalili led many analysts to say that Tehran would take a tougher line regarding its nuclear program
"I think it makes it harder to strike a deal, because there is nobody to negotiate with who has some pragmatic inclination," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "With Larijani out of the picture there is nobody to talk to, and it indicates that the supreme leader is not in a mood for a compromise either."
But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini insisted on Sunday that 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 said. "Our officials will continue strongly along the same road and no change will come about.”
Whether the Iranian stance will be changed or not, the process of negotiating a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off is not going to be easier, particularly because many Iranians are not happy with Jalili’s appointment.
"The experience and positions held by Larijani are not comparable with the deputy foreign minister, who has little experience,” said the influential head of parliament's research centre, Ahmad Tavakoli.
