ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Javad Zarif, Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs and one of the country’s most recognized diplomats, resigned from President Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet on Sunday, citing unaddressed shortcomings within the new leadership.
Zarif, age 64, addressed the people of Iran in a message posted on X.
“I am not satisfied with the outcome of our work and am ashamed that I could not adequately implement the expert opinions of the committees or fulfill the promises I made regarding the inclusion of women, youth, and ethnic groups,” Zarif said.
“Shortcomings” with the list of cabinet nominees submitted by Pezeshkian for parliamentary approval pushed him to make the decision, the Western-educated career diplomat and academic added.
Zarif, who was appointed to the post of vice president on August 2, also pointed out that some of Pezeshkian’s deputy positions have yet to be appointed.
Pezeshkian presented his proposed cabinet members to the parliament earlier on Sunday. The list consisted of 19 nominees, including one woman.
According to Zarif, of the 19 ministers introduced “three were the first-choice nominees, six were the second- or third-choice nominees, and one was even the fifth-choice nominee,” of the advisory committees and the steering council to Pezeshkian.
Zarif argued selecting ministers “is the right of the president,” while the two bodies are merely advisory bodies.
Pezeshkian, who ran as a reformist candidate, won Iran’s run-off presidential vote on July 5, beating the ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili.
The vote was originally scheduled for 2025, but it was moved forward after former President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May alongside several companions including then Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Zarif was foreign minister in former President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet from 2013 to 2021.
Pezeshkian, who ran as a reformist candidate, announced in late July that he would “consult and coordinate” with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to present the final list of the ministerial candidates. Khamenei has the final say on all matters in Iran.
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