Javed Zarif says Iran’s diplomacy being “poisoned by infighting”

Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Iran's diplomacy is being "poisoned" by the party and factional fighting, a day after he offered to resign as foreign minister.

Zarif's comments suggest he may have quit over pressure from hardline elements who have long criticized his role in negotiating a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

He made the comments in a newspaper interview that took place before he announced he was stepping down, apologizing for all his "shortcomings".

"We first have to remove our foreign policy from the issue of party and factional fighting," Zarif told the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper.

"The deadly poison for foreign policy is for foreign policy to become an issue of party and factional fighting," he added.

Hardliners in Iran have long criticized Zarif over his role in negotiating a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015.

President Hassan Rouhani has not formally accepted the resignation which Zarif announced on Monday on Instagram.

Rouhani made no mention of Zarif's announcement in a televised speech on Tuesday morning, but he did praise him for his "resistance" and "capabilities".

"If our foreign ministry is doing something, it is because it is from the people and it represents the people," the president added. "The government, in general, is elected by the people."

Rouhani also noted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had "explicitly thanked" the Iranian foreign ministry for its help during the country's civil war.

Earlier, a majority of MPs signed a letter to the president on Tuesday asking for Zarif to remain in post, a spokesman for parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy told the official Irna news agency.

Zarif announced his resignation on Monday night in an Instagram post that gave no explanation for the decision.

"I apologize for not being able to continue in the post and for all the shortcomings and flaws in the period," he wrote.