A resignation probably without consequences: The Iranian presidential office has confirmed the resignation of Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sarif. At the same time, however, it was announced that President Hassan Ruhani would not accept this.
Sarif has brilliantly done his work so far and will continue to do so, according to the Bureau on his Instagram page during the night to today. Therefore, President Ruhani will not accept this resignation. „Sarif will not be alone and we (the government) will all stick to him,“ said the presidential office.
Backgrounds unclear
Sarif had announced his resignation on Instagram last night. Observers in Tehran were surprised that Sarif announced such an important decision shortly before midnight local time on a social medium. But they also assumed that the president would not accept the resignation of his chief diplomat and Sarif therefore continue to remain in office.
The reasons for his resignation have been heavily speculated on the social media. Some claimed that he was fed up with the hardliners‘ constant criticism of the 2015 Vienna nuclear deal and its approach to the West.
Architect of the Vienna Agreement
Others wrote that he had not been invited to the meeting with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad yesterday, and therefore resigned angrily. However, everyone agrees that an end to Sarif will also lead to a speedy end to the nuclear deal.
Sarif had negotiated decisively on the Iranian side the nuclear agreement with the UN veto powers and Germany. However, according to political observers in Tehran, Ruhani currently has no alternative for the experienced diplomat. In question would be his deputy Abbas Araghchi or nuclear chief and Vice President Ali-Akbar Salehi. But neither of them has the charisma of Sarif.
