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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut short a planned two-day visit to Armenia on Tuesday, officials there said, as the hard-line leader faced growing unhappiness back home over the resignation of Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

The sudden replacement of negotiator Ali Larijani fueled already increasing complaints — even from conservatives who were once his supporters — that the fire-brand president was mismanaging Iran's most vital issues, particularly the confrontation with the West over the nuclear program.

Beyond the suddenness of Larijani's weekend departure, the choice for his replacement, Saeed Jalili, also came as a surprise. Jalili was a little-known deputy foreign minister, noted mainly for his loyalty to Ahmadinejad.

In a sign the displeasure may reach high levels in Iran's clerical establishment, a foreign policy adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, complained over the surprise change, which took place just ahead of key talks Tuesday with the European Union.