Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, ran as a reformist candidate. But when he announced Sunday that his Cabinet nominees included several conservatives and only one woman, he faced a fierce backlash, with a high-profile vice president resigning and political allies accusing him of abandoning campaign promises to bring change.

Vice President for Strategy Resigns

The resignation Sunday of Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had been appointed vice president for strategy and had led a search committee for Cabinet nominations, shocked Iran’s political circles. He had been a prominent face of Pezeshkian’s campaign, traveling across the country and telling voters to give change a chance. Now, he was abandoning the government in a public display of deep divisions before it was even formed.

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In a post on his Instagram account, Zarif said it had become clear to him that he could not bring about the kind of domestic change that people had expected.

“I am not satisfied with the outcome of my work, and I’m ashamed that I could not adequately achieve what I had promised about representation of women, youth and ethnicities and the expert opinion of the committees,” he said.

Zarif followed up Monday with another post on Instagram, saying that his resignation did not mean he regretted supporting Pezeshkian or that he had lost hope in the new government, but rather “it means that I doubt whether I can be effective as a vice president of strategy.”

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Timing of Zarif’s Resignation

More stunning was the timing of Zarif’s resignation. As Iran’s former foreign minister, its most seasoned foreign policy expert and the top negotiator in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, said he was bowing out as a possible regional war loomed.

Iran has been threatening to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran about two weeks ago. Israel, which has not taken responsibility for the killing but had admitted being behind the assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon around the same time, has said that if Iran and Hezbollah launch large retaliatory attacks, it would strike back with force.

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At the center of the controversy are two key Cabinet nominees: the candidates for minister of the interior and intelligence. Pezeshkian named two conservatives with a long history of brutal crackdowns on protesters, women and dissidents even though he had pledged during debates and campaign rallies that he would reform such heavy-handed tactics.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Farnaz Fassihi and Leily Nikounazar/Arash Khamooshi
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