Iranian vice president Javad Zarif resigned on Sunday, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s official news agency, reported Monday. He did so “on advice from the head of the Judiciary to relieve some of the pressure on the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian,” the report said.
Zarif had been at the center of controversies in Iran in recent months, and some politicians had criticized him.He is best known as Iran’s former foreign minister and its point man during the era of the Iran deal.
Zarif was a charmer and a favorite of Westerners, who enjoyed his affable personality and ability to light up a room. He always seemed to enjoy being in the West more than in Iran, which led to suspicions about him among some Iranian “hard-liners.”
In truth, it was not really about being “hard-line,” because Zarif was a regime loyalist; it was more about internal politics. Iran is shifting away from the West, and there is a sense that people like Zarif are not as needed as they were in the past.
In the past, Zarif was trotted out as the nice face of Iran, but that mask can now be taken down.
It’s not clear what Zarif’s fate will be. It’s possible he could receive a new appointment or even that his resignation will not be accepted. IRNA’s reports seemed to indicate he would have some time off now.
Pezeshkian administration
Zarif said he had met on Saturday with Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i, who “had advised that, given ‘the conditions of the country, I [should] return to [teaching at] the university to avoid more pressure on the administration,’” IRNA reported.
Zarif “said he hoped that by leaving the administration, those hindering the realization of ‘the people’s will and the success of the administration’ would be stripped of excuses,” the report said. “I continue to be proud of having supported the venerable Dr. Pezeshkian and wish him and other true servants of the people the best.”
“Since he was tapped as vice president, Zarif has been taking intense heat from a group of lawmakers in Parliament who have argued that his appointment to a sensitive post is illegal because at least one of his children holds US nationality,” IRNA reported.