Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who resigned last week, did not know about the visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to Tehran, said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi.

President Hassan Rouhani rejected Zarif’s resignation last Wednesday, Reuters reported. 

“The ministry of foreign affairs did not have information at any level (about the trip) and this lack of information was maintained until the end of the trip,” Qassemi said. “One of the reasons for the resignation of Dr. Zarif was this type of lack of coordination with the ministry of foreign affairs. And as it has been announced before, the resignation of the honorable minister was not a private and individual issue and the goal and intent of that was a positive effort to return the ministry of foreign affairs and the diplomatic system of the country to its main place.”