The new Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian appointed the moderate diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif as his vice president, reports DPA.
The former foreign minister will support the president on strategically important issues, reports the Iranian news agency Isna. Zarif was already serving as chief adviser to the new president before this appointment.
Zarif was the country's top diplomat from 2013-2021 and was Tehran's lead negotiator on the landmark international nuclear deal with world powers in 2015. He is a proponent of better relations with the West and direct dialogue with the US .
With Zarif and a new team of diplomats, Pezeshkian hopes to resume nuclear negotiations and achieve the lifting of sanctions that have paralyzed the Iranian economy, DPA notes.
In his new role, Zarif will also play an important role in the latest escalation of relations with Israel after the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniya, leader of the Palestinian armed organization "Hamas". Pezeshkian blamed Israel for the targeted killing and threatened retaliation.
Zarif also condemned the attack but refrained from making threats.