US special envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, who was leading President Donald Trump's tough line toward Tehran, stepped down from his post Thursday, months before the presidential election that could redirect US politics.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Hook, 52, the Republican who is one of the most powerful figures in the State Department, decided to resign and return to work in the private sector.
Pompeo said in a statement that Hooke "has achieved historic results in addressing the Iranian regime."
Hawke's sudden departure comes at a precise time when Washington is trying to garner support at the United Nations to extend an arms embargo imposed on Iran, and at a time when the UN Security Council is preparing for a vote next week on the matter.
Elliott Abrams, 72, will replace Hook, who is also a Republican veteran and was one of the architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and recently led the unsuccessful Trump campaign to topple Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.
Abrams, who was known in the 1980s for leading the campaign to defend right-wing governments in Latin America, will continue his duties as Special Representative for Venezuela, as well as his role as special envoy to Iran.
Hooke was on the front row of Trump's crackdown on Iran that included withdrawing from the nuclear deal and reimposing tough sanctions.
Hook's decision, a lawyer, to return to work in the private sector, comes 3 months before the US presidential election in which Donald Trump confronts Democrat Joe Biden.
Biden was a strong supporter of the nuclear agreement negotiated during the reign of former President Barack Obama.