At a meeting of Iran’s ambassadors yesterday, Aug. 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at critics of the nuclear deal, calling them “political cowards.” He said “to hell” with those who worry that his nuclear negotiation team appeared to be becoming close to foreign countries.

Rouhani’s “coward” line is a direct attack on the nuclear deal opponents, who have gathered into a variety of groups, one being “The Concerned.” This group, which has held a number of high-profile public conferences to speak about its concerns, is made up of an array of former politicians and other hard-liners opposed to comprise with the West.

Rouhani’s comments made the top stories of many Reformist and conservative newspapers and websites.

Kayhan newspaper, whose editor Hossein Shariatmadari was chosen by the supreme leader, went with the sarcastic headline, “Rouhani revealed his moderate discourse by inviting his critics to hell.” The article criticized Rouhani for accusing conservative figures of trying to "force people into heaven by a whip," yet said "to hell" to his own critics. In his speech, Rouhani said that his critics would sooner or later be "grateful" for the efforts of his administration.