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."

Rashidi often fills his page with quotes and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. There are numerous other pro-Khamenei young people active on social networks, many of whom say they don’t fit into any Principlist grouping. They say they follow the path of "Imam Khamenei" and that they’re willing to give their lives for him.

Reza Shams, an Instagram user popular among Basij members, has also expressed disappointment with Iran's compromises in the negotiations. He writes, "Our resistance became void. If we wanted an agreement, why did we suffer for eight years? Why did we sacrifice so many lives? We let them die for nothing by suspending our enrichment," referring to the assassinations of several Iranian nuclear scientists from 2010-2012.