- Mohammad Javad Zarif was the architect of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers
- He was appointed minister of foreign affairs in August 2013 after Rouhani won the presidency
GENEVA: Fighting between parties and factions in Iran is a “deadly poison” in formulating foreign policy, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview published by the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper on Tuesday, a day after announcing his resignation.
Zarif’s comments suggest he may have resigned over pressure from hard-line elements opposed to his role in negotiating a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Although reports suggested his resignation had not yet been accepted.
“We first have to remove our foreign policy from the issue of party and factional fighting,” Zarif said in the interview.
“The deadly poison for foreign policy is for foreign policy to become an issue of party and factional fighting,” he added.
President Hassan Rouhani has not formally accepted the resignation which Zarif announced on Monday on Instagram.
Meanwhile, a majority of parliamentarians in Iran signed a letter to Rouhani asking that Zarif continue in his job, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported, quoting a member of parliament.
Ali Najafi Khoshroodi, spokesman for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy commission, told IRNA he had signed the letter and was collecting additional signatures.
Meanwhile Syrian President Bashar Assad thanked Iran’s Foreign Ministry during his visit to Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.
But confirmed media reports on Monday suggested that Zarif might have resigned over Assad’s visit to Tehran.