Iran President rejects FM Zarif resignation

Tehran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif´s resignation on Wednesday, saying the departure of the public face of the Islamic republic´s detente with the West would be against its best interests.

Zarif´s abrupt announcement on Instagram late on Monday that he was quitting had sparked rumours of mass resignations in the country´s diplomatic corps and a petition from parliament urging Rouhani to turn it down.

"I believe your resignation is against the country´s interests and do not approve it," Rouhani wrote in a letter to Zarif, according to the government´s official website.

The president cited Iran´s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in praising Zarif´s work as foreign minister.

"I consider you, as put by the leader, to be ´trustworthy, brave and pious´ and in the forefront of resistance against America´s all-out pressure," he added.

In his few public comments after his resignation, Zarif had complained that the work of the foreign ministry was being undermined by political interference and expressed determination to see it regain its proper statutory role.

The last straw appears to have been his exclusion from meetings with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier in the day, Iran´s Entekhab news agency reported.

Assad, who has relied heavily on Iranian military and financial support during his country´s nearly eight-year civil war, met with both Khamenei and Rouhani on his rare foreign visit, but Zarif was not present at either meeting.