By DPA
Tehran : Iran’s nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, the man in the public eye in the dispute between Iran and the West over the Iranian nuclear issue, has resigned, Tehran announced Saturday.
Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said that Larijani’s resignation has been accepted by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and efforts were underway to appoint his successor.
No initial reason was given for the development.
The disclosure came three days before the next scheduled round of talks between Iran and the European Union, set for Oct 23.
Tehran had said Wednesday that Larijani was to meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana either in Vienna or Rome on that day.
The Larijani-Solana meeting would precede the next round of talks between Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the deputy head of Iran’s National Security Council, Javad Vaeidi, had said.
In Vienna, officials at the IAEA said the organisation had not yet heard of the development, but the IAEA was unlikely to issue an official comment on the resignation of a government official.
An IAEA technical team is currently in Tehran, but since it consisted of technical experts it would normally not be talking directly with Larijani, officials said.