p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Candara; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {font: 15.0px Candara; font-kerning: none} span.s3 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0463c1; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0463c1} Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suddenly resigned Monday in a post on Instagram where he expressed gratitude “to the dear and honorable Iranian people for the last 67 months” while apologizing for “all the shortcomings during my service.” Zarif was the face of Iranian diplomacy throughout the nuclear talks and their aftermath and has faced relentless criticism from hard-liners over his outreach to the West.

Why it matters: The timing of Zarif’s resignation, which has so far not been accepted by President Hassan Rouhani, coincides with a visit from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at which the foreign minister was noticeably absent. That has fueled speculation that Zarif quit after losing influence.

Well-informed sources told Al-Monitor that Zarif expressed indignation that his ministry had not been informed of Assad’s visit and at having been left out of Rouhani’s meeting with the Syrian leader. The apparent rupture appears driven by disagreements with the Iranian president. Entekhab news site quoted Zarif as saying he had “no credibility in the world” after he was left out of a meeting with Assad that was heavily publicized, and thereby missing from official photographs.

"The main reason behind Zarif’s resignation is clear: He was upset that he wasn’t at the meeting with Assad alongside Rouhani," a source familiar with the matter told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Assad also met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.