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.

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.'

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