Mohammad Javad Zarif Returns to Medicalian's Government After Meeting with Cabinet Members and Khamenei

Hours after the release of images of Mohammad Javad Zarif at the meeting of the fourteenth government members with Ali Khamenei, Iran's former foreign minister announced that he would continue his activities in the position of strategic deputy in Masoud Medicalian's cabinet. Mr. Zarif announced this news on his Twitter account on Tuesday, September 6. The former foreign minister, who made significant efforts for Medicalian's victory in the presidential elections and played an important role in determining and introducing his cabinet ministers, had resigned from his deputy position about three weeks ago due to pressures related to the dual citizenship of his children. Before resigning, he was the strategic affairs deputy to the president and the head of the steering council for selecting Masoud Medicalian's cabinet. On August 21, Mr. Zarif wrote on his Instagram page that some had turned his employment in sensitive positions into a means of pressure on the fourteenth government, with a strange interpretation of the law approved in 1401. In recent years, some principlist politicians and judicial officials have named Iranian officials with dual citizenship as one of the most important channels of influence in Iran and have repeatedly called for their dismissal. The former foreign minister, who played a key role in achieving the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers known as the JCPOA in 2015, had gained relative popularity in public opinion, but his statements in international circles justifying human rights violations in Iran, including his remarks about the downing of the Ukrainian plane by the IRGC missiles, drew significant criticism, especially from the families of the victims of that plane. In his Twitter post today, he also wrote that he 'apologizes for his late presence at the meeting with the leader.' Zarif did not provide further explanation on this matter, and it is unclear whether his attendance at this meeting was coordinated later or not. The former foreign minister added that 'nearly 70 percent of ministers and vice presidents of the president and many deputy ministers and organizations resulted from the expert proposals of the transparent and participatory process' he and his colleagues in the steering council for selecting Masoud Medicalian's cabinet had conducted. Ali Khamenei confirmed Masoud Medicalian's report about the coordination of the fourteenth cabinet with him. Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly voted positively for all ministers during the vote of confidence for the proposed members of Medicalian's cabinet after his controversial remarks about the list's coordination with the Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei also confirmed the cabinet's coordination with him in his meeting today with the government delegation and expressed satisfaction that the president succeeded in gaining the Assembly's vote of confidence in this regard.