Story highlights Many in Iran are disappointed by Trump's move to disavow the deal

But some took a more hard-line stance and chanted "Death to America!"

Tehran (CNN) Hours before President Donald Trump publicly renounced the Iran nuclear deal, refusing to certify the multilateral agreement in an effort to initiate tougher and more wide-ranging restrictions on Tehran, hardliners in the country's capital said: I told you so.

At Tehran University, where the regime enjoys strong popularity, hundreds of worshipers gathered for Friday prayers. Separated by a barrier, men and women sat in contemplation, awaiting a sermon by Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, a well-known hardliner.

"From the start of the nuclear deal we knew that Obama was lying and that he wasn't our friend," Kermani said. "The supreme leader showed us that (the US) are not our friends, that they will show our real face to us. They are our enemies."

The crowd erupted in chants of "Death to America," fists thrown in the air.

Worshippers chant "Death to America!" at Friday prayers in Tehran.

The same refrain was echoed later by Trump in his speech Friday warning of Iran's "sinister" worldview.

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