Resignations at the top: What is happening in Iran? Expert opinions on Caliber.Az

Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has resigned following the impeachment of Minister of Economy and Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati. This was reported by the Fars news agency.

According to the information, Zarif submitted his resignation request after a session of the Iranian Majlis (parliament), during which Hemmati was removed from office.

Later, Zarif stated that he made the decision to resign after a meeting with the head of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i.

"I was invited to a meeting by the highly respected head of the judiciary. Noting the current situation in the country, he advised me to return [to teaching] at the university to avoid further pressure on the government," he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) page.

"I am still proud to have supported [President Masoud] Pezeshkian and wish him and all public servants the very best," he added.

According to Zarif, over the past six months, he has faced insults, slander, and threats but remained steadfast in serving his country.

For a long time, Iranian media have been discussing claims that Zarif was illegally holding his position due to the alleged U.S. citizenship of his children.

This is the second time since the formation of Iran’s current government that Mohammad Javad Zarif has attempted to resign from his post. The first time was on August 11, just ten days after assuming office. He explained his decision by expressing "dissatisfaction with his own work" as head of the advisory council, which was established following Masoud Pezeshkian’s election as head of the executive branch and was responsible for selecting candidates for the new Cabinet of Ministers. On that occasion, the president rejected his resignation and convinced him to stay.

Shortly before these developments, Pezeshkian stated that he intended to resume dialogue with the United States regarding the nuclear deal, but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei opposed the move.

What do these events indicate? Is Iran facing an escalating political crisis? Is the dismissal of the Minister of Economy and Finance linked to the country’s economic turmoil?

And if Pezeshkian advocated for dialogue with the West while Khamenei opposed it, could these resignations signal that Tehran has opted for a hardline foreign policy? How vulnerable is the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of the latest global and Middle Eastern developments?

Foreign experts in this field have shared their insights on the situation with Caliber.Az.

Associate Professor at the Department of Modern East and Africa at the Russian State University for the Humanities and Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lana Ravandi-Fadai, began her response by noting that in December 2024, Iran suffered its greatest geopolitical defeat in the Middle East in half a century—the overthrow of its key ally, Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.

"The government of Hafez al-Assad became Iran's ally immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Under his son, Bashar al-Assad, cultural and economic ties between the two countries deepened, and Iran began using Syrian territory to support allied groups and fight against Israel.

Now, all of this is gone. Power in Syria has been taken by forces that do not see Iran's leadership as brothers in faith but rather as 'unbelievers' and refuse to engage in any negotiations with them. Iran’s embassy in Damascus was ransacked by their supporters.

Furthermore, shortly before these events, Israel eliminated or seriously wounded (either through direct airstrikes or by remotely detonated devices) almost the entire military and political leadership of Hezbollah, effectively knocking it out of the game. Yet Hezbollah was the force that saved Bashar al-Assad’s regime in its most critical days and compelled Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2006. Now, with Israel waging war at full capacity, Hezbollah has nothing left to counter it," the associate professor explained.

These events have demonstrated just how vulnerable Iran and its Axis of Resistance (its allied regimes and groups) are in the Middle East, Ravandi-Fadai noted.

"All these defeats, occurring within such a short period—just a few months—have sparked discontent among the conservative segment of Iranian society and within the conservative establishment. Many have accused President Pezeshkian and his team of being too hesitant in defending Iran’s interests in the Middle East, fearing decisive action, and thus failing in their duties.

The current resignations most likely reflect this internal elite political struggle between conservatives and reformists. Moreover, some Majlis deputies have even stated that they want to impeach Pezeshkian himself. This suggests that the clouds are gathering over the reformist president, and his position is weakening, no matter how much he pledges loyalty to the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader, for his part, is evidently opposed to negotiations with the Trump administration, and the executive branch is forced to align with his stance.

At the same time, Iran is far from stable domestically. The country was severely impacted by an energy crisis caused by an abnormally cold winter and poor management of its substantial natural gas resources. This led to prolonged power outages, further fueling dissatisfaction with the government and ultimately forcing the Minister of Economy and Finance to resign.

Overall, the situation in the country is extremely tense. The recent decision by Trump to impose maximum-level sanctions has only worsened the outlook, as it will significantly hinder Iran’s oil exports—just as they had begun recovering from his 2018 measures," Ravandi-Fadai concluded.

Israeli Iranologist and journalist Michael Borodkin believes that Masoud Pezeshkian’s statement is indeed evidence that the Iranian leadership has chosen to abandon dialogue with the West.

"The president explicitly stated that the Supreme Leader ordered negotiations to stop, and he complied. Zarif’s resignation also supports this trend. I believe he was brought into the government specifically to engage in talks with Western countries, as he had successfully done in the past. However, it has now become clear that Ali Khamenei sees no need for such negotiations," the Iranologist noted.

In his view, the resignation of Finance and Economy Minister Hemmati is undoubtedly indicative of both a political crisis and deepening socio-economic problems.

"The conservative circles, which fully control the parliament, sense public discontent and are looking for scapegoats. Naturally, the sharp rise in inflation that coincided with Pezeshkian’s government taking office contributed to this. However, the real causes of economic turmoil lie in poor governance and Western sanctions. Therefore, the resignation of the economy minister will not resolve the situation.

Khamenei likely believes that an alliance with Russia and China will help Iran sustain itself economically until it becomes a nuclear power—at which point it can return to negotiations, but on entirely different terms.

At the same time, Israel, the U.S., and Europe are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, meaning Khamenei’s strategy may ultimately fail," Borodkin concluded.