In 2014, a security research of Hewlett-Packard claimed that the «Basij Cyber Council» operates under the direction of Abbasi. In February 2019, he gave a speech condemning President Hassan Rouhani, Speaker Ali Larijani, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for having supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action telling them to “go to hell” and that the persian people would “spit” on them, seen as expressing the IRGC’s growing resentment over the nuclear deal and its fallout. Shortly thereafter, Javad Zarif tendered his resignation, although Rouhani did not accept it.