It consisted of a short-term freeze of portions of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions on Iran, as the countries worked toward a long-term agreement. Other issues On 29 April 2015, while appearing on The Charlie Rose Show, Zarif was asked about the detention of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter held in Iran for the past nine months. He responded, "We do not jail people for their opinions[.]" Zarif condemned U.S. involvement in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, saying the United States should be held "accountable for crimes against humanity". On 11 February 2019, Zarif met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Nasrallah thanked Zarif for Iran's support of Hezbollah's fight against 'Zionist aggression', and Zarif affirmed his country's "firm stance that supports Lebanon and its state, people and resistance". In an interview conducted by CBS News on 25 April 2019, Zarif said that he was the one who proposed Iran's prisoner swap proposal to the U.S. government in October 2018, the proposal having been unanswered by the U.S. side up until that time. He added that the U.S. government must prove its seriousness before any negotiations. Zarif condemned the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria viewing it as a violation of Syria's sovereignty. However regarding the US withdrawal from Syria Zarif commented saying the US was an "irrelevant occupier in Syria", and said that Iran would be willing to mediate tensions between Syria and Turkey. Zarif called the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates a betrayal against Arab and non-Arab countries in the Middle East. Resignation Zarif stepped down from his post on 25 February 2019, announcing his resignation on Instagram. After greetings in honor of Iranian Women's and Mothers' day, he wrote Zarif did not elaborate or provide any further explanation. An aide said that one of the reasons for Zarif's resignation was anger over his exclusion that day from meetings with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was visiting Tehran. Rouhani rejected Zarif's resignation two days later. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, also rejected Zarif's resignation, with Soleimani remarking that Zarif is the "main person in charge of foreign policy." Sanctions In July 2019 the United States imposed sanctions on Zarif, and he was identified by the US as an "illegitimate spokesperson for Iran". In response, a spokesman for European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini stated,