Zarif Confirms His Resignation from Government; 'My Message Does Not Indicate Despair from Behdarvand'

Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed his resignation from the position of Deputy for Strategic Affairs of the President in his second message in less than 24 hours. He stated that he made this decision due to pressures related to his children's dual citizenship. However, he added that this resignation did not occur on Sunday evening, August 21, but rather last week. On Tuesday, Zarif wrote on Instagram that some 'with a strange interpretation of the law passed in 1401, had turned my employment in sensitive positions into a pretext for pressure on the fourteenth government.' He continued: 'To prevent any ambiguity or pretext for obstruction in the government's work, I had submitted my resignation from the Deputy for Strategic Affairs of the President last week.' Acknowledgment of resignation due to external pressures comes as Zarif described the experience of chairing the advisory council for selecting the cabinet as 'full of shortcomings' just hours after the controversial list of proposed ministers by Masoud Behdarvand was introduced. He stated that this experience 'along with other problems, determined my continued path in academia.' In his initial message, he did not refer to details of 'other problems.' Following this message, Hamid Rasai, a member of parliament and critic of Zarif, wrote on social media X: 'According to Article 2 of the law on the appointment of individuals in sensitive positions, the appointment of individuals below to sensitive posts (Deputy President) is prohibited: a - those who themselves, their children, or their spouses have dual citizenship.' Rasai addressed Zarif without mentioning his name, adding: 'Such an appointment is null and its continuation is considered a crime. Please do not make your forced resignation like spilled oil a donation to the Imamzadeh.' The official announcement of Masoud Behdarvand's proposed ministers for obtaining a vote of confidence from the parliament has faced widespread reactions, and some reformists and supporters of Mr. Behdarvand in the elections expressed disappointment with the composition of the ministers. A former member of parliament stated on Sunday, August 21, that the President of Iran received a 'failing grade' in introducing the cabinet, and political activists and social media users criticized the presence of individuals inconsistent with Masoud Behdarvand's promises. In his recent message, Zarif confirmed his children's American citizenship but claimed that such citizenship was 'coerced' due to their birth on American soil. Obtaining citizenship for a foreigner, including through the use of birthright and soil, is not 'coerced' or mandatory in any country. The issue of dual citizenship officials arose after Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former CEO of Bank Melli, fled to Canada and the case known as the three thousand billion toman embezzlement. 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. Zarif gained relative popularity in public opinion while serving as Iran's foreign minister due to his role in concluding the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. However, his statements in international circles justifying human rights violations in Iran, including his remarks about the incident of the Ukrainian plane being shot down by the IRGC missiles, drew significant criticism, especially from the families of the victims of that plane.