IRAN NEGOTIATOR HEADS FOR NUCLEAR TALKS

Evening Echo
Oct 23 2007
Ireland

Iran’s new top nuclear negotiator will hold his first meeting with the
EU’s foreign policy chief over Tehran’s contentious nuclear programme
today in Rome.

Saeed Jalili, a little known diplomat, was appointed his country’s
chief negotiator after Ali Larijani stepped down at the weekend.

The departure of the moderate Larijani was seen as a victory for
hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad that could push the Islamic
Republic into an even more defiant position in its stand-off with
the West.

However, Larijani was set to attend the Rome talks today alongside
Jalili and the EU’s Javier Solana, according to Iran’s Foreign
Ministry.

The talks had been scheduled before Larijani was replaced. The US and
some of its 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.

Tehran denies the claim, saying its programme is for peaceful purposes
including generating electricity.

The UN Security Council has imposed two sets of sanctions over Iran’s
refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut short his two-day visit to
Armenia today, an Armenian presidential spokesman said.

The Armenian government had expected Ahmadinejad to address parliament
and, in what was likely to cause controversy, plant a sapling at a
memorial commemorating the victims of what Armenians consider genocide.

Viktor Sogomonian, press secretary of Armenian President Robert
Kocharian, gave no reason for the Iranian president’s decision to
miss both planned events and return to Iran.

Russia’s ITAR-Tass news agency, citing an unnamed source, said the
decision was connected with unexpected developments in Iran.