A tussle to sway public perceptions of Iran’s nuclear deal is taking shape in the Islamic Republic, pitting liberal and conservative media against each other and mirroring the fierce debate unfolding in the U.S. In the days following the signing of the deal last month in Vienna—in which Iranian negotiators agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions—Iran’s conservative media shied away from directly criticizing the accord. Instead, conservative media focused on how the pact didn’t end the enmity between Iran and the U.S. But criticism has since become bolder. An ultraconservative weekly, 9 Dey, published scathing criticism of President Hassan Rouhani’s nuclear diplomacy, arguing it had overstepped the limits that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had placed on concessions. Hamid Rasai, the publication’s managing editor and a member of parliament, denounced the Iranian media for “drooling over expressing devotion to the criminal U.S. […]