Iran’s veteran diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif stepped down as vice president a day after parliament ousted the finance minister, signaling a growing rift between hardliners and moderates in the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif has stepped down on the "advice" of the country's judiciary chief, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei.

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a key architect of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, reportedly tendered his resignation on Monday from the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian,

Zarif said he had 'faced the most horrible insults, slander and threats against myself and my family, and I have gone through the most bitter period of my 40 years of service.'

The administration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered a second blow in as many days with the resignation Monday of Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs. His departure comes after the impeachment on Sunday of another Pezeshkian ally,

Zarif had already been at the center of controversies in Iran because some politicians had critiqued him over the last several months.