Ali Akbar Salehi assumes duties as Iranian Foreign Ministry

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's nuclear chief replaced the country's sacked foreign minister Saturday, December 17 and said his top priorities include building a "special relationship" with Saudi Arabia, an announcement that appeared meant to ease suspicion and fear across the Persian Gulf about Iran's nuclear program.

Ali Akbar Salehi, who still heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said he also wanted stronger ties with key ally and growing regional player Turkey and with China and Russia - two nations whose veto power on the U.N. Security Council is crucial to Tehran's battle to ward off more sanctions.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad abruptly fired his longtime foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, on Monday while he was in the middle of a visit to Senegal. He gave no public explanation, but the president may have wanted to install a figure more personally loyal to him as Tehran resumes critical talks with world powers over its nuclear program.

The United States and some of its key allies believe Iran is using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons. Iran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity and producing medical isotopes for patients.

The doubts over Iran's true aims are shared by the United States' Arab allies in the Gulf. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, for example, has forcefully urged Washington to take military action against Iran to "cut off the head of the snake," according to the secret diplomatic memos made public by WikiLeaks.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf Arab nations said this month they are watching Iran's nuclear ambitions with "utmost concern" and appealed to the West for a greater voice in the renewed talks with Tehran. Salehi, who was introduced as the new top diplomat at a Foreign Ministry function on Saturday, indicated he wanted to ease those worries.

Iranian media reports over the past year have said that some lawmakers believed Mottaki was not a forceful or persuasive enough advocate for Iran on the world stage. Mottaki refused to attend his own farewell event Saturday in an apparent gesture of protest.

Salehi will serve as caretaker foreign minister until a permanent replacement is named. Under Iran's constitution, the president has three months to name Salehi or another candidate, who must then survive a vote of confidence in parliament, The Washington Post reported.