As U.S. Pushes to Isolate Iran, Rouhani Fights to Keep His Top Diplomat
Javad Zarif’s resignation deprives the Iranian government of its point person in talks with the West
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani scrambled Tuesday to avert a political crisis from the resignation of the country’s top diplomat, praising his fellow moderate foreign minister on live television and dispatching senior officials to urge him not to quit.
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, an architect of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, resigned unexpectedly Monday on Instagram. His exit was prompted by his exclusion from an unannounced visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian officials said, and will likely embolden conservatives opposed to the nuclear deal.
Mr. Rouhani, in his speech on state television, tried to appease his apparently angry foreign minister by thanking him for his efforts in Iran’s “regional victory.”
The president has yet to accept Mr. Zarif’s resignation. His efforts to retain him indicate what’s at stake for his government: Mr. Zarif’s departure would deprive the government of its most experienced diplomat while it is fighting U.S. attempts to isolate Iran, and likely strengthen hard-liners bent on withdrawing Tehran from the nuclear accord.
While he hasn’t given a public explanation for his exit, Mr. Zarif wrote privately to friends on the messaging app Telegram, in a message seen but not verified by The Wall Street Journal, that he felt disrespected by the president and angry that he hadn’t been informed of Mr. Assad’s visit.
“A minister who is not trusted as much as a translator to be in a meeting with the supreme leader, is not respected by the president as much as to telephone him and inform him of the meeting [with Mr. Assad] so that he could at least appear in the photographs,” Mr. Zarif wrote. Hinting at longer-standing grievances, he added that his role had been reduced to merely defending the Islamic Republic’s policies at international summits at great personal sacrifice.
Mr. Rouhani in his speech said Mr. Assad’s visit wasn’t a formal diplomatic one, but that the Syrian leader had expressed his gratitude to the Iranian foreign ministry. Mr. Rouhani thanked Mr. Zarif, along with Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, for “tolerance and resistance under pressure as those who have stood on the front line.”
Shortly before dawn Tuesday, Mr. Rouhani had dispatched the oil minister, along with his chief of staff and vice president, to convince Mr. Zarif’s to rescind his resignation.
But later Tuesday, Mr. Zarif reiterated his departure in a public statement. However, he implored Iranian diplomats around the world to remain in their jobs.
“I emphasize to all dear brothers and sisters in the foreign ministry and representative offices to continue their duties in defense of the country with strength and to avoid such actions,” Mr. Zarif said, in what appeared to be a response to reports that diplomats may quit in protest, in a sign of allegiance with Mr. Zarif.
“It has been an honor to work beside you. And I hope that my resignation will lead to a return of the ministry of foreign affairs to its legal place in foreign relations. I thank you all,” Mr. Zarif said.
Following Mr. Zarif’s announcement, some 150 lawmakers sent an open letter to Mr. Rouhani appealing to him not to accept Mr. Zarif’s resignation, according to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Lawmakers worried that Mr. Zarif’s exit would further weaken the government’s say over Iran’s foreign policy, which is already determined by the supreme leader and heavily influenced by the military.
“The end of Zarif means the end of the Rouhani government’s power and influence in foreign policy,” said Mohamad Ali Vakili, a parliament member.
Hard-line officials opposed to the diplomacy championed by Mr. Zarif, such as Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s foreign military operations, were present at the meeting with Mr. Assad.
Possible successors to Mr. Zarif include deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, an experienced diplomat and nuclear negotiator, and the president’s chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi, both of whom would likely continue Mr. Zarif’s course. Another more conservative contender is Hossein Amir Abdollahian, an aide to the parliament speaker.