IRAN - May 9 - Bail For Jailed Iranian Negotiator.

The former Iranian nuclear negotiator Hussain Mousavian, was released on bail in Tehran on Wednesday, in what is seen as a victory for critics of the government of president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad. Mousavian was arrested nine days ago on suspicion of espionage and still faces "security charges", according to the Intelligence Ministry. But Muhammad Atrianfar, a prominent reformist journalist, said he did not expect Mousavian to return to jail. "A spy cannot be freed in nine days", he told the FT. "The speed of his release shows this was a political punishment for certain individuals with [a] different approach and who are influential at home and abroad". Mousavian played a leading role in negotiations with the European Union over Iran's nuclear programme between 2003 and 2005 as foreign policy head of the Supreme National Security Council. But he was replaced, with other security officials, after Ahmadi-Nejad won the Presidential election in 2005. Close to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Pres, Mousavian criticised Ahmadi-Nejad's handling of the nuclear issue. "We decided he would be the one who spoke out the most", a former senior official said recently. In a further triumph for Ahmadi-Nejad's opponents, Tehran city council on Wednesday re-elected Muhammad-Baqer Qalibaf as mayor by eight votes to six, with one abstention. The result was a setback for the Pres, even though his allies on the council had clawed back some support since their poor showing in December's local election. Qalibaf, a former national police chief who ran in the 2005 Presidential [logical not]elections as a conservative moderniser, is a potential challenger to Ahmadi-Nejad in the 2009 elections. As mayor, he will oversee an annual budget of at least $2bn in the run-up to the poll. The council's four reformists backed Qalibaf and, with Iranian politics in flux, there has been speculation that Ahmadi-Nejad's opponents might coalesce around him for 2009. "It's too early to say", a Rafsanjani ally said. "It is important to defeat Ahmadi-Nejad. But for sure we won't be writing blank cheques for anyone else".