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. government.”

Last Monday, the Iranian government’s media oversight board shut down 9 Dey and issued a warning to Kayhan, a hard-line newspaper closely associated with Mr. Khamenei.

Kayhan published a front-page response to the government’s move on Tuesday asking: “If [the deal] enjoyed enough strength, why should the mouths of critics be closed?”