TEHRAN — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has not been faced with severe domestic criticism over its nuclear deal with six world powers. At least not from moderate Principlists and even commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Rather, some elements of the paramilitary Basij — most of them younger hard-liners — have objected to the deal primarily on social networks such as Instagram, and the popular smartphone app Viber.
One of these figures is Seyed Morteza Rashidi, who is based in the holy city of Qom. Since the conclusion of the nuclear deal earlier this month, Rashidi has lashed out at Rouhani and the negotiating team — including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — in over 20 Facebook posts. He argues that "the Islamic Revolution is now controlled by those who do not even believe in its principles, but are also as Westernized as one can get." One week after the agreement was struck, Rashidi wrote on his Facebook page: "The deal, signed by enemies of the Revolution, is legally too flawed. It seems that Iranian negotiators are either traitors or uneducated individuals."
