President Hassan Rouhani has refused to accept his Foreign Minister’s resignation, giving him a rare public show of support in a victory for Iran’s moderates.
Mr Rouhani released a statement to the state news agency yesterday praising Mohammad Javad Zarif. He said the minister had the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggesting that they had won a significant battle with hardliners.
Many interpreted Mr Zarif’s resignation, announced on Instagram on Tuesday, as a “put up or shut up” demand to conservatives who have criticised him and Mr Rouhani for negotiating a 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
The pair were described as being too friendly to the West. Mr Rouhani said in the letter: “Since you are ‘honest, brave, courageous and pious’, as the Supreme Leader put it, and since I believe you are at the forefront of resisting the intense pressures of the US, I consider accepting your resignation against our country’s interests, and I reject it”.
Mr Zarif’s resignation had shocked Iranians and outsiders. His confidence in international settings and fluent English made him a favoured interlocutor in the West. He was also popular with ordinary people in Iran, who hoped the 2015 deal would improve economic conditions.
Read the report by Richard Spencer in The Australian.