Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has defended Iran's negotiating team against criticism from hardliners in the country, saying on Sunday that calling its members traitors to the homeland was "simply unfair and against the national interests of the country."
The United States and Iran have been negotiating - with the help of mediators - for several weeks over a framework agreement to end the Iran war.
The agreement is intended to serve as a starting point for deeper talks between Washington and Tehran.
According to reports, in addition to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, it would extend the fragile and repeatedly broken ceasefire by 60 days and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.
The US said the deal was to be signed on Sunday. There was no confirmation of this from Iran.
At overnight gatherings in the capital Tehran and other cities, fierce protests broke out against the two leading figures of Iran's negotiating team: chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
"You should be ashamed" and "Death to the compromisers" were among the chants at the rallies.
Pezeshkian said criticism was legitimate, but defamation was not, as it could lead to divisions in society. He added that this was precisely what the country's enemies were waiting for.
Political groups that felt committed to the Islamic revolution and the system in particular should adhere to the official political course and the decisions associated with it, Pezeshkian said, according to the presidential office's website.
