Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic who recently received a huge backlash on social media for saying “We are proud to be under pressure for supporting Palestine”, warned today that the officials should not expect the people to tolerate and resist these pressures forever.

Zarif backtracked from his original statement by saying: “I have to mention that when we say we are proud of our people’s resistance, it doesn’t mean that it is our people’s duty.”

He continued: The Islamic Republic officials have a duty to appreciate the resistance of the Iranian people and try to reduce the pressures on them.

The foreign minister added: “It is not to say that people have always tolerated the pressure, and they have resisted 40 years and they will resist more. No. It is not like that.”

He said people expect their officials to solve their problems in return for their resistance.

After Zarif’s original comments, there was a huge backlash on social media. Two famous football players also chimed in.

Ali Karimi wrote in his Instagram: “Which one of us is under pressure exactly sir? You or us?”

Voria Ghafouri, another player wrote: “It is not you who is under pressure, it is the ordinary people.”

Ghafouri was summoned to the ministry of sports’ intelligence office for his comments.