TEHRAN, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has cancelled his planned trip to Germany for a coming security conference in Munich due to illness, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

    "Mr. Larijani's trip to Munich has been cancelled due to his illness," an informed source in the Iranian Embassy to Germany was quoted as saying.

    The conference organizers in Germany also confirmed Larijani's cancellation to attend the meeting, where he had been supposed to meet with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for the first time since Iran was imposed sanctions by the United Nations.

    Besides Solana, Larijani had planned to meet with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and to address the conference on Sunday.

    The Munich security conference, kicking off on Friday, attracted more than 40 international officials, the report said.

    The annual meeting, now in its 43rd year, will focus on the role of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Other topics including the Mideast peace process, the West's relations with Russia and the fight against terrorism will also be tackled.

    Western officials would reportedly do some "informal contacts" with Larijani in the conference to make Iran "come up with some realistic, achievable proposals" on its disputed nuclear program.

    But this desire can not come true since the top Iranian official made a decision not to attend the meeting.

    Meanwhile, Larijani has planned to hold a meeting with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna Friday night. It's still unclear that whether the meeting has been cancelled or not.

    The UN Security Council passed resolution 1737 last December, urging Tehran to suspend the enrichment activities and imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile program. But Iran denied the request and vowed to install 3,000 centrifuges by March.

    Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says it needs to enrich uranium as a peaceful, alternative energy source and has the right to do so under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

    The West has accused Iran of trying to produce nuclear weapons under a civilian cover, a charge denied by Tehran.