Tehran, February 26
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned without warning late Monday, offering an “apology” to the nation as the nuclear deal he negotiated with world powers is on the verge of collapse after the US withdrawal from the accord.
Zarif’s resignation, if accepted by Iran’s relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani, would leave the cleric without one of his main allies in pushing the Islamic Republic toward further negotiations with the West.
It remains unclear why Zarif chose to leave his post now and what effect it will have on the atomic accord, which Iran has been complying with. He likely briefed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before offering his resignation. Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, previously backed the American-educated envoy through the nuclear negotiations. “We’ll see if it sticks,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about Zarif’s resignation. “Our policy is unchanged - the regime must behave like a normal country and respect its people.”
The veteran diplomat first hinted at his resignation with a vague Instagram post in which he offered an “apology” for his “inability to continue to his service.” The post included a drawing honouring Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, as Iranians commemorate her birth on Tuesday. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, confirmed to the state-run IRNA news agency minutes later that Zarif had resigned but gave no reason for his departure.
Reaction to Zarif’s resignation was swift. A prominent reformist lawmaker, Mostafa Kavakebian, wrote on Twitter that Rouhani should reject Zarif’s resignation as his departure would only “make enemies of Iran’s dignity happy.” — AP
Battle of hardliners vs moderates out in open
- President Hassan Rouhani stood behind one of his highest profile allies in Iran’s moderate faction on Tuesday, holding back from accepting the resignation of Javad Zarif, which an ally blamed on criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal
- But the announcement by Zarif, the US-educated veteran diplomat, thrust the schism between Iran’s hardliners and moderates into the open, effectively challenging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to pick a side
- The schism over the nuclear deal shows the tension in Iran between the two factions, and between the elected government which runs the country on a day-to-day basis and a clerical establishment with ultimate power
- Rouhani won landslide elections in 2013 and 2017 on promises of reform, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen as above factional fighting but sympathetic to the hardliners
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