Iran: Former Foreign Minister appointed vice president for strategic affairs

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday appointed former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as vice president for strategic affairs and head of the Center for Strategic Studies, Xinhua reported, citing Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

Pezeshkian made the appointment in a decree after taking oath of office before the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, the report said.

The Iranian President called on Zarif to monitor and directly inform him of major domestic and international developments and the administration's extent of success in achieving the objectives set by the country's Constitution, as well as implementing the 20-year vision document and general policies introduced by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Zarif served as Iran's Foreign Minister from 2013 to 2021 in the government of former President Hassan Rouhani.

During his time in office, Iran in 2015 signed the nuclear deal with world powers, from which Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 when he served as US President.

He is known for his statements against the US and Israel. In 2020, Zarif defended Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s use of a poster evoking Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution” to destroy Israel.

In 2021, he predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go “into the dustbin of history”. He made similar comments about Trump when his term as president concluded.

That year, Zarif canceled his visit to Vienna over Austria's show of solidarity with Israel as it was being attacked by rockets from Gaza.