Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the architect of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, announced his resignation unexpectedly on Monday on Instagram.
“Many thanks for the generosity of the dear and brave people of Iran and its authorities over the past 67 months. I sincerely apologise for the inability to continue serving and for all the shortcomings during my service. Be happy and worthy”, he wrote on his Instagram page jzarif_ir.
He gave no specific reasons for his decision. Unconfirmed media reports indicated he resigned over Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s visit to Tehran on Monday. Noting that Zarif was not pictured in any of the coverage of the visit, one online website said “the foreign minister was not informed”.
