Iran's Zarif resigns amid political wrangling over economic woes

Al Jazeera

03-03-2025

Tehran, Iran – Mohammad Javad Zarif, strategic foreign policy adviser to Iran's president and a prominent figure advocating for talks with the West, has again resigned amid fierce pushback from hardline opponents.
The former foreign minister and face of reformist-backed negotiations with global powers that led to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal confirmed the move in an online post early on Monday, saying it comes after 'the most bitter era of my 40-year period of service'.
Remarkably, Zarif said he was 'advised' by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to resign and go back to a university teaching job 'to prevent further pressure on the government' in a tumultuous period for the country.
He was under pressure from hardline factions to resign for months, based on a 2022 law that forbids nationals with dual citizenship or those with dual-national first-degree family members from assuming political office. Zarif's two children are natural-born United States citizens.
Centrist President Masoud Pezeshkian has yet to publicly react to the news, although state media reported his office received the resignation.
Mohseni Ejei met senior judiciary officials on Monday but did not comment on Zarif's resignation. In a video of the meeting, released by state media, he only urged the judiciary to assist the government in managing the currency market.
Zarif's resignation came hours after another prominent figure in the centrist camp, Abdolnaser Hemmati, was impeached as economy minister by hardline and conservative lawmakers who have dominated Iran's parliament for the past five years via low-turnout elections.
Opponents painted the former central bank chief and failed presidential candidate as a 'dangerous' influence on the Iranian economy and accused him of intentionally weakening the national currency to attract short-term liquidity to plug massive budget deficits.
Hemmati, who denied the accusations and said he was only fighting a multilayered foreign currency system that has bred corruption for many years, was unable to convince MPs that sacking him just six months into the new administration would adversely affect the ailing Iranian economy.
With Nowruz New Year celebrations coming in about two weeks, bringing heightened market and shopping activity, inflation stands at approximately 35 percent and the Iranian rial has been free-falling.
Wary of more unrest that they blame on foreign 'enemies', especially the US and Israel, Iranian officials have been voicing concern over the potential for more social unrest which could undermine the establishment.
No talks with the US
In another remarkable comment on Sunday, the president pointed to the framework within which he and the Iranian government operate.
'I personally believed that it would be better to hold talks. But the supreme leader said that we do not negotiate with America. So, I also announced that we will not negotiate with America, that's the end of it,' Pezeshkian told lawmakers in a televised session of parliament.
The centrist president was elected in a run-off vote in early July that was shunned by half of eligible Iranian voters. Zarif was integral to his election, repeatedly calling on Iranians to vote for better conditions.
Pezeshkian succeeded in defeating ultraconservative candidate Saeed Jalili only after building his campaign around a central promise of working to end harsh sanctions by the US and the European Union that have hit the Iranian economy hard for years.
But after US President Donald Trump – who unilaterally reneged on the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 – emphasised his 'maximum pressure' policy against Iran after his re-election in 2024, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asserted there will be no talks with Washington.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a longtime Zarif ally and another key figure behind the nuclear deal, has been warning of all-out war if the US and Israel make good on their threats to bomb Iranian nuclear and energy facilities.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander-in-chief of Iran's army, told state television on Monday that the country's armed forces do not seek war, but 'we will certainly defend Iran strongly if a war is started'.
Iran's army and the elite force Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been holding months of large-scale military exercises, showcasing aerial defence systems, ballistic missiles, suicide drones and anti-submarine projectiles, among other things.
What does this tell the world?
The ousting of two prominent reformist-minded figures in the Iranian government is likely to signal to the West that Tehran will only harden its stance after suffering more outside pressure.
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters during a news conference on Monday that international stakeholders 'will certainly have their own viewpoints' on the issue, but he would not speculate.
This week's developments ramp up the stakes for the next few months, as a major sunset clause of the comatose Iranian nuclear accord is due in October.
The E3, the three European powers which are still part of the nuclear deal, will have only until October to activate the 'snapback' mechanism of the landmark accord, which could theoretically reinstate all United Nations sanctions on Iran.
Iran has held two rounds of 'consultations' with European powers to reach a better understanding, and a third has been on the agenda for months.
But even as Iran's nuclear programme continues to expand considerably, China and Russia have remained opposed to that level of political escalation, arguing the US is responsible for leaving the deal without offering any alternatives to it. Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Baghaei, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, confirmed that Russia and the US have discussed the Iranian nuclear programme during their latest contacts. Those talks preceded Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visiting Tehran last week and meeting the president.
'What matters is that whatever happens concerning the Iranian nuclear issue, it will certainly not happen without comments or approval from Iran,' he told the news conference in Tehran.