ROME-Iran's new nuclear negotiator steps onto the international stage for the first time on Tuesday at a meeting where Western diplomats will try to gauge whether Tehran has hardened its stance on its atomic programme.
Tuesday's meeting in Rome had been scheduled to be between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator , whose resignation was announced on Saturday. He will now attend with his replacement.
The new chief negotiator , Saeed Jalili, is a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The meeting at the lavish Doria Pamfili villa is scheduled for 1600 GMT. Solana 's office said there would be a "short statement" issued to reporters afterwards to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.
Analysts have said Jalili's appointment might signal a hardening of Tehran's position over its development of nuclear technology that Western countries fear it may use to make an atomic bomb, a charge it denies.
Iran's refusal to halt nuclear work that could in theory be used to make material for warheads has already prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose two sets of sanctions.
A third round is under consideration, although major powers have agreed to delay new penalties until at least November.
They want to see if Iran cooperates with U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, and to await a report by Solana .
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes. "Iran will not let its right to nuclear technology be suppressed," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki wrote to his French counterpart in a letter issued on Monday by an Iranian news agency.
"Using tools like the Security Council, economic sanctions and other threats cannot deprive our nation and our government for a moment from its decision."
U.S. President George W. Bush has said a nuclear -armed Iran could lead to a third world war. France is pushing for stronger European Union sanctions against Tehran, as well as pressing for further U.N. measures.
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