Iran’s newly-appointed VP Zarif resigns from post

Tehran, Aug 13 (IANS) Mohammad Javad Zarif has resigned from his new post as Iranian Vice-President for strategic affairs and head of the Centre for Strategic Studies, just 10 days after his appointment.
In a post on social media platform X on Sunday night, he said he was “not satisfied with the result of his work” as head of the steering council for selecting the new Iranian administration’s cabinet members, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.According to Zarif, out of the 19 Ministers proposed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the country’s parliament for approval on Sunday, three were the top recommendations of his council and its committees after evaluating more than 1,000 candidates. He added that six nominees were second or third choices and one was their fifth choice.He stressed that selecting cabinet members was the Iranian President’s right, with the steering council and its committees serving only in a consultative role.In a follow-up post on X on Monday, Zarif said on Sunday in his message “was not a sign of regret or disappointment with Pezeshkian,” but rather an indication that he had doubts about his “usefulness” as Vice- President for strategic affairs.Zarif stressed that he still had faith in everything he had said about Pezeshkian during the election campaign and urged the Iranian people to continue supporting the new President and his administration.In a decree on August 1, Pezeshkian appointed Zarif as Vice-President for strategic affairs and head of the Centre for Strategic Studies. Zarif, 64, served as Iran’s Foreign Minister from 2013 to 2021 under former President Hassan Rouhani.–IANSint/khz