JEDDAH: Iran on Wednesday demoted its chief nuclear negotiator and replaced him with an anti-Western hawk in a move that casts doubt on talks to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran.

Abbas Araghchi, one of the key negotiators of the original 2015 agreement, also lost his job as deputy foreign minister, and his role in the talks will now be limited to that of ministry adviser.

His replacement at the ministry is Ali Bagheri, a protege of President Ebrahim Raisi who was his deputy for international affairs when Raisi was judiciary chief.

Bagheri, 53, has repeatedly criticized strict limits on Iran’s nuclear activities and granting “foreigners” access to inspect the country’s nuclear plants and other “sensitive security facilities.”

His appointment puts Iran’s nuclear policy firmly in the hands of hard-liners close to Raisi, analyst Mehdi Zakerian said. “In the Raisi administration, the key personalities at the negotiating table are now Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation chief Mohammad Eslami and Ali Bagheri,” Zakerian said.

“Bagheri’s appointment should be seen as a clear warning to the West as it’s likely the new team will throw into question the whole basis of the nuclear deal and abandon all of Iran’s commitments if the Americans delay their return to the 2015 agreement.”

Nicki Siamaki, an analyst at Control Risks, said Bagheri’s appointment could prolong the process of reaching a deal with the US as the regime would raise the stakes to reach a deal they considered met their conditions.

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the original deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran.

Tehran responded by breaching many of the agreement’s restrictions and enriching uranium to purity levels much closer to weapons grade.