![Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif speaks during the Valdai Discussion Club titled ''Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields'' in Moscow, Russia on 19 February, 2018 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018_02_19-Russian-Foreign-Minister-Sergey-Lavrov-and-Iranian-Foreign-Minister-Javad-Zarif-20180219_2_28786330_30905067.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday denied resigning as a result of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s trip to Tehran last month, Arabi21 reported.
Zarif told an Iraqi television station that he visited Syria two weeks before Al-Assad was in Tehran, noting he met with his Syrian counterpart and is due to visit Syria again in the coming days.
Zarif tendered in his resignation on 25 February, giving no reason for the move. Reports emerged that this had been done after Al-Assad came to the country without his knowledge and met with Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.
Rouhani rejected Zarif’s resignation the following day, forcing him to withdraw it.
READ: Iran’s Zarif calls Iran-focused summit in Poland a ‘desperate circus’