Iran's Rouhani clings to Zarif after diplomat's shock resignation

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani flattered and praised Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday in a bid to keep the top diplomat in office following his shock resignation.

Zarif announced his resignation on Instagram late Monday, the same day that he was excluded from an official visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Iranian presidential office released a statement shortly after the post was published, saying Rouhani would not accept the resignation.

"For the president, there is only one foreign policy and only one foreign minister," Mahmoud Vaezi, Rouhani's chief of staff, wrote Tuesday on Twitter.

Rouhani is satisfied with Zarif's work and spoke highly of the minister during a speech at the country's central bank on Tuesday, Vaezi said.

The reasons behind the departure have been hotly disputed, with many hypothesising that Zarif's exclusion from the unannounced visit of the Syrian president was the catalyst.

Syria's al-Assad travelled to Iran on Monday, his first official visit to Iran since the start of the Syrian civil war. A video of the meeting released Syrian state media showed al-Assad shaking hands with Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Zarif was not present, Iranian media later confirmed.

Zarif has faced constant criticism from Iran's hardliners over his negotiation of the 2015 nuclear deal and the government's policy of rapprochement with the West. The nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions in return for Tehran reducing its nuclear weapons capabilities, was dealt a major blow when the United States pulled out last year. The pull-out and re-imposition of sanctions triggered further criticism of Zarif in Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. had taken note of Zarif's resignation.

"We'll see if it sticks," Pompeo wrote on Twitter. "Either way, he and Hassan Rouhani are just front men for a corrupt religious mafia. We know Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes all final decisions. Our policy is unchanged – the regime must behave like a normal country and respect its people."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the resignation announcement. "Zarif has gone, good riddance," he wrote on Twitter. "As long as I am here, Iran will not have nuclear weapons."    (dpa)