Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, Iran's main contact with the West over Tehran's atomic programme, has resigned, the government said today.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accepted his resignation and Saeed Jalili, deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, was expected to replace Mr Larijani, the official IRNA news agency said.
Mr Larijani had been set to meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Rome on Tuesday for more discussions about Iran's nuclear ambitions. The West fears Tehran wants to build atomic bombs and has imposed two sets of sanctions through the United Nations. Tehran insists it wants only to produce electricity.
Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, quoted by IRNA, said Mr Larijani's replacement was expected to meet Solana as planned. European officials say Mr Larijani has long had difficulty in getting the Iranian establishment to support his negotiating strategy.
Some analysts have said Mr Larijani had differences with Ahmadinejad over tactics although both oppose halting the nuclear programme in the face of increasing Western concern and threats of more sanctions.
"Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, resigned from his position," Elham said.
"Despite Larijani's resignation, there will be no change in the council's programme and the new secretary will meet Javier Solana."
An official at Italy's Foreign Ministry said it would be up to Solana to decide whether the Rome meeting went ahead and "we will have to wait and see who replaces Larijani", the official said.
Major powers have agreed to delay new sanctions until November to see if Iran's deal with UN inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clear up suspicions about Iran's intentions yields results and to await a report by Solana.
"The IAEA is working with a group of technical counterparts in Iran," a spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday, declining to be named or to comment any further.
The final say in Iran in all matters of state, including nuclear policy, lies with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei under Iran's system of clerical rule.