Iran atomic stance may harden as Larijani resigns

By Edmund Blair

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has resigned and the man named to replace Ali Larijani could present the West with a harder line in a long-running dispute over Tehran's atomic ambitions.

Saturday's announcement exposed a rift over tactics with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accepted Larijani's resignation and has taken an uncompromising approach in the nuclear standoff.

Analysts say Saeed Jalili, the senior foreign ministry official replacing Larijani, is close to the president and his appointment showed that those determined to defy the West were gaining a greater influence in Iranian decision-making.

A government spokesman said there would be no policy change.

Western states fear Tehran wants to build atomic bombs. They have imposed two sets of sanctions through the United Nations and are considering a third. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, insists its aim is only to produce electricity.

"Larijani has resigned due to personal reasons but this does not mean changes in policies and programmes," said government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and chief nuclear negotiator since 2005, had been set to meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Rome on Tuesday for more discussions about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The European Union said the talks would go ahead. "We have just spoken to the Iranians. Solana is keeping to his plan to travel to Rome on Tuesday and will meet whatever senior negotiator the Iranians send," an EU spokeswoman said.