Larijani Dismisses Invasion of Iran as Inefficient

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said military operations against Iran would not deter the country’s nuclear progress.

Addressing a seasonal meeting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ground force commanders here on Monday, Larijani voiced support for Ahmadinejad’s policy for continued nuclear progress.

“Insistence on Iran’s nuclear progress was a very correct policy and today Iran has turned into an established nuclear state,” he said.

The former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) called for vigilance and resistance against West’s pressures on Iran, stressing that Tehran should continue its peaceful nuclear programs.

Larijani was replaced with Saeed Jalili in October after he resigned his post as the SNSC head and chief nuclear negotiator due to his alleged differences with President Ahmadinejad in handing the country’s nuclear case.

Iran’s Government Spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said on Oct. 20 that Larijani had resigned his post because he wanted to focus on “other political activities.”

Larijani, who is now the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei at the SNSC, rejected rumors about his resignation as SNSC secretary and chief nuclear negotiator, saying that he would present further explanations in this regard in future.

Meantime, he underlined that he is still involved in the nuclear issue and that he would render as much help as possible to Ahmadinejad’s administration to end the nuclear case.

After Jalili replaced Larijani as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator they both attended a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Solana in Rome on October 23. Following the meeting, Solana said the new negotiator was upstaged by Larijani.

Larijani was appointed as Iran’s SNSC chief in August, 2005, after Ahmadinejad took office as the country’s president.