At a meeting of Iran’s ambassadors, President Hassan Rouhani defended his administration’s performance on the nuclear negotiations, using harsh language to remind critics of the nuclear deal that his administration has the support of the different branches of government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in the negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1).

Fars News reported that in response to criticism over some Iranian officials appearing to get close to Western officials, Rouhani said, “Some who are politically timid and cowardly do not have confidence and they assume everyone is like them.” He said, “Whenever negotiations start, they say that they are shaking — To hell, go and find a warm place for yourself.

“The administration has done something big,” Rouhani said. “One of these examples is the Geneva agreement and if some are not thankful for these efforts, sooner or later they will be and history will have its own judgment.”

Rouhani said that the nuclear issue, which afflicted Iran with a number of sanctions, is in reality “an artificial crisis,” and that Iran is “not in a hurry in the nuclear discussions, but we do not see a delay as advisable.