On June 23, Iranian hard-liners once again attacked moderate President Hassan Rouhani, but this time was different. A group of hard-liners approached the president and chanted harsh slogans while he was marching in the streets to mark International Quds Day.

Every year, Iranians take to the streets on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan to decry Israel for “occupying Palestinian lands.” Various figures, including high-ranking officials, take part in the marches, but this time, a group of hard-liners came close to the president and chanted slogans against him that were interpreted as impolite and insulting. Among the slogans shouted at Rouhani, who was re-elected by a landslide on May 19, were “The American sheikh,” “Rouhani, Banisadr, congratulations on your linkage” (in reference to Abolhassan Banisadr, Iran’s first president who was impeached and later exiled), and “Down with hypocrites” (in reference to the outlawed opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq).

Minutes after the attack, Rouhani’s supporters on social networks backed him, using the hashtag “I’m a supporter of Rouhani,” which became a top trend on Twitter on June 23. In fact, every time the hard-liners have attacked Rouhani, the atmosphere has turned in favor of him, as many of his supporters become mobilized on social networks and denounce the attacks. Furthermore, the attacks of hard-liners are sometimes so harsh that even critics of Rouhani, including conservatives, rally to his side.

Reformists and moderates soon pointed their fingers at conservatives and hard-liners who had lost the election to Rouhani. In this vein, some conservative figures tried to exonerate their camp from this controversy. This, in turn, portrayed the hard-liners as more violent in the eyes of ordinary people and labeled the conservatives as “unity breakers.” In fact, moderates and Reformists opined that instead of demonstrating unity and condemning Israel on International Quds Day, the hard-liners served Israel’s purposes by breaking the unity sought with such marches.