Iranian President Hassan Rohani rejected Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's resignation, saying it was “against the country's interests.”

"You are trusted by me and the whole Islamic establishment, particularly the supreme leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rohani wrote in a letter to Zarif that was posted on the government's official website on February 27.

The president called on his foreign minister to continue his work with "strength" and "courage."

An hour later, Zarif accepted Rouhani's call to stay as foreign minister, with a post on Instagram.

Zarif offered to resign in a message posted on Instagram late on February 25, amid mounting pressure from hard-liners who have criticized his role in negotiating a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The United States pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran, fueling a deepening economic crisis and political infighting in the country.

On February 27, Zarif attended a ceremony to welcome Armenia's prime minister to Tehran, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

In an Instagram post, the minister thanked Iranian officials and nation for their support, saying he has always been committed to serving the country.

"As a modest servant, I have never had any concern but elevating the foreign policy and the status of the foreign ministry," he wrote.