Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif Announces Resignation

JAKARTA - Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif announced his resignation on Monday, state media reported.

In Monday's upload on X, Zarif said he had "confronted the most terrible insults, slander and threats to myself and my family, and I have gone through the most bitter time in 40 years of my service."

"Satri pengunduran diri Zarif diterima oleh Presiden Masoud Pezeshkian, yang belum menanggapi," laporasi kantor berita resmi IRNA seperti dikutip dari VOA 3 Maret.

Zarif said he was resigning to help "relieve some pressure on the Government of President Masoud Pezeshkian".

In his tweet on X Zarif wrote, he had visited the Head of the Gholam-Hossein Court Mohseni Ejei at his invitation on Saturday. During the meeting, the head of the Court advised him to resign to avoid further pressure on the government.

"To avoid further pressure on the government, the chief judge recommended that I resign and I immediately accept it," he added.

He hopes that with him leaving the government, those who hinder the realization of "people's actions and the success of the government" will be free from reasons.

"I continue to be proud to have supported Dr. The honorablezeshkian and wish him the best and the true servants of the other people," he said.

Mohammad Javad Zarif is a former Foreign Minister and head of Iran's nuclear negotiations in the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA) agreement in 2015.

President Pezeshkian, who took office in July, appointed Zarif as his vice president for strategic affairs on August 1. But Zarif resigned after less than two weeks, before returning to office at the end of the month.

Since he was appointed vice president, Zarif has come under strong criticism from a group of MPs in Parliament who argue that his appointment to sensitive positions is illegal because at least one of his children has US citizenship.

According to Iranian law, individuals holding foreign citizenship or whose close family members have the citizenship cannot be assigned to sensitive positions in the Iranian government.

The government of President Pezeshkian has passed on a bill to Parliament to amend the law, thus accommodating the recruitment of individuals whose children do not obtain foreign citizenship due to choice, as in the Zarif case.

The vice president's children were born in the United States when he was still a student before being assigned to the United Nations mission of Iran in New York.

The dispute has not been resolved while changes to the law are still in process, with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it supports legal reform.