TEHRAN — Iran’s top nuclear negotiator resigned Saturday in a move seen as a victory for the hard-line president that could push the country into an even more defiant position in its standoff with the West.
Ali Larijani was viewed as more moderate than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the two often clashed over how to negotiate with the world on the nuclear issue.
His resignation and replacement by the little-known deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, Saeed Jalili, puts the nuclear portfolio firmly in the president’s hands just days before a key meeting with European negotiators.
It was not clear whether Larijani left his post under pressure, but his departure was interpreted by many as giving Ahmadinejad a free hand in dictating his views to the less experienced Jalili.
Spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham gave no specific reason for the resignation other than to say Larijani wanted to focus on “other political activities.”
“Larijani had resigned repeatedly. Finally, the president accepted his resignation,” Elham told reporters.
The U.S. and some allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and have demanded it halt uranium enrichment, a key step in the production of atomic weapons. Oil-rich Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity.
