NUCLEAR SPLIT EMERGES IN IRAN
Robert Tait in Tehran
The Guardian
Wednesday October 24, 2007
Signs of a split over nuclear policy at the heart of Iran’s leadership
emerged yesterday after MPs and an adviser to the country’s most
powerful political figure criticised the departure of its chief
negotiator, Ali Larijani.
Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to the supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised Mr Larijani and said his resignation
should not have happened. His comments coincided with a letter of
support for Mr Larijani signed by 200 MPs in Iran’s parliament. The
parliament’s foreign and national security committee wrote to President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, complaining that Mr Larijani’s departure "put
the country in danger".
Mr Larijani quit last Saturday after complaining that Mr Ahmadinejad
had undermined his negotiating strategy. The resignation was seen as
evidence that Mr Khamenei had handed greater control to the president,
who has declared the nuclear case "closed" and replaced Mr Larijani
with a close ally, Saeed Jalili.
However, that interpretation was cast in doubt by Mr Velayati’s
intervention.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the Armenian president, Robert Kocharyan,
yesterday said Mr Ahmadinejad had been forced to cut short a trip
there because of unspecified developments.