Iran's power struggle surfaces over talks A close ally of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has criticised the Islamic regime's nuclear talks with world powers in a sign of the president's rising frustration at being sidelined in the negotiations. Although Mr Ahmadi-Nejad has never been a decision maker in the nuclear controversy - a file closely guarded by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader - he has sought to give himself a direct role in past negotiations. But the revived nuclear talks, which started in Istanbul and are set to resume in Baghdad on May 23, come at a time of intense power struggle between the country's two top figures, a battle that has undermined Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's standing. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, one of the president's closest allies and his unofficial spokesman, on Monday criticised Iran's current approach to the nuclear talks. Previously, Iran's negotiators had simply defied the UN's resolutions, Mr Javanfekr said. Now chief negotiator Saeed Jalili posed for a photo with Lady Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, a performance, Mr Javanfekr implied, designed to send positive signals to Iran's markets eager for sanctions to be eased. Mr Jalili is acting on direct orders from the supreme leader, and Tehran has been rife with speculation that he is authorised to negotiate some compromise that would also win Iran an easing of international sanctions. The first round of talks in Istanbul last month were described by all sides as noticeably more positive than previous negotiations. On Monday - at a meeting in Vienna between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN atomic watchdog signalled it would press Tehran for access to a military facility where it suspects Iran has built a chamber for high-explosive tests that could serve to develop nuclear weapons. There are fears in Tehran that such conditions will limit chances for success. Analysts in Tehran believe that the weak economy has convinced key regime figures that compromise is needed in the nuclear talks. The impact of international sanctions on the economy was being exaggerated, Mr Javanfekr said. "Due to the treacherous behaviour of some figures and[political] currents at home we have reached a point that the country's strong and independent economy is tied up to the not-so-important talks in Istanbul," MrJavanfekr wrote in the government-run "Iran" newspaper. His defence of the economy comes as Mr Ahmadi-Nejad faces criticism for high inflation and weak growth. The rial, the national currency, has depreciated by about 30 per cent since last December but has recovered by 14 per cent since the Istanbul talks last month raised hopes for a breakthrough. The drop in the currency, however, has fuelled inflation which Iran's central bank puts at 21.8 per cent, but economists believe is at least double the official figure. Last week the president, who has said the inflation rate is only 6 per cent, blamed currency fluctuations on "a joint domestic and foreign plot," implying that it was instigated by those eager to weaken Iran's hand in the nuclear talks. Political observers say soaring inflation and the possibility of a military confrontation with Israel are the driving factors behind the regime's willingness to resume negotiations with world powers. Some foreign diplomats in Tehran have drawn an analogy between the current tensions and the last years of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), when Iran was forced to agree to a ceasefire. "As long as the inflation was one digit or around 10 to 15 per cent, Iran continued fighting with Iraq but when the rate jumped to more than 20 per cent and the US seemed ready to take military action, the regime accepted the ceasefire," said a senior Asian diplomat in Tehran. He predicted further economic deterioration if the EU oil embargo, which is due to take effect in July, goes ahead. US sanctions on Iran's central bank - delaying the transfer of oil revenues into the country - have already affected the economy. Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's recent political manoeuvring has underscored speculation that he is unhappy about the nuclear talks. Three days before the Istanbul talks last month, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad visited Abu Musa island - over which the United Arab Emirates claims sovereignty - reviving an old dispute with the neighbouring country and creating what many analysts considered unnecessary tensions at a delicate time.