TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was the lead negotiator in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, has abruptly tendered his resignation, although there was no sign on Tuesday President Hassan Rouhani had accepted it.
Zarif offered an apology for his “shortcomings” in the unexpected message on Instagram on Monday, with prominent members of parliament immediately calling for Rouhani not to accept the resignation.
Zarif, 59, has served as Rouhani’s foreign minister since August 2013 and has been under constant pressure from those who opposed his policy of detente with the West.
“I apologise for my inability to continue serving and for all the shortcomings during my term in office,” Zarif said in the message posted on his verified Instagram account.
On Tuesday, he urged Iranian diplomats not to follow his lead as rumours spread of mass resignations.
“I hope my resignation will act as a spur for the foreign ministry to regain its proper statutory role in the conduct of foreign affairs,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
The prospect of Zarif’s departure was swiftly welcomed by Iran’s foes.
The 59-year-old’s ready smile and mastery of both the English language and social media has made him a formidable player on the diplomatic stage. “Zarif is gone. Good riddance,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netahyahu was a bitter opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal Zarif negotiated with Barack Obama’s administration and threw his own formidable lobbying powers into an ultimately successful campaign to persuade Donald Trump to abandon it last May.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that it made no difference to Washington whether Zarif stays or goes.
Zarif’s announcement came hours after a surprise visit to Tehran by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Zarif was not present at any of Assad’s meetings with Khamenei and Rouhani.
The Entekhab news agency said it tried to reach Zarif and received the following message: “After the photos of today’s meetings, Javad Zarif no longer has any credibility in the world as the foreign minister!”
Rouhani insisted on Tuesday that Assad had thanked the Iranian foreign ministry during his visit, one of his very few abroad since the start of the civil war in 2011.
“He said he has come to thank the nation and the leader of Iran. He also thanked the foreign ministry,” Rouhani said.
In an interview with the Jomhoori Eslami newspaper published on Tuesday, Zarif said “everything will be lost, when there is no trust in the manager of foreign policy.”
Mostafa Kavakebian, a reformist MP, was among those urging Rouhani not to accept Zarif’s resignation.
“A great majority of MPs demand that the president never accept this resignation,” he said in a tweet.
Hardliners were not as supportive.
“Mr Zarif resigned to avoid the hardships of confronting America and having to answer for the faulty path he took during his tenure,” said Alireza Zakani, a former MP.
The head of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, told ISNA that it was not the first time Zarif had tendered his resignation.
“That he has done so publicly this time means that he wants the president to accept it.” — AFP
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