Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut short a two-day visit to Armenia to return home Tuesday, an Armenian spokesman said, at a time when the Iranian leader’s has come under criticism even by fellow conservatives for his replacement of the top nuclear negotiator.
Ali Larijani abruptly resigned his position as the top nuclear negotiator over the weekend, and was quickly replaced with a hard line Ahmadinejad loyalist.
Though a conservative, Larijani was considered more moderate than Ahmadinejad within Iran’s hardline camp, and the two men had previously clashed on how to approach the nuclear talks.
On Monday, 183 lawmakers, most of them conservatives, passed a measure praising Larijani’s performance as nuclear negotiator, a clear sign of displeasure with his departure. A parliamentary group wrote a letter of complaint to Ahmadinejad for failing to inform them of the resignation in advance or consult with them on Larijani’s successor.
