Iran's President Hassan Rouhani tweeted historic news on Friday afternoon before quickly deleting it. Then, minutes later, he tweeted about the conversation again.
The screenshot below shows Rouhani's initial tweet, a sentence fragment that indicates he had just spoken on the phone with U.S. President Barack Obama. This was the reportedly the first communication between American and Iranian presidents since 1979.
Minutes after, the tweet had disappeared from Rouhani's Twitter stream, leaving many questioning its veracity. Only minutes later, Obama confirmed the phone conversation in a press conference and said he had spoken with the Iranian leader.
"The very fact that this was the first communication between an American and Iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history," he said.
Here's a photo of Obama during the phone call taken by White House photographer Pete Souza.
Historic phone call in the Oval Office: Pres Obama talks w Iran Pres Hassan Rouhani this afternoon pic.twitter.com/5EZSOdBouD
— petesouza (@petesouza) September 27, 2013
After Obama made the announcement, Rouhani became a bit more loose-lipped, expanding upon their interaction on Twitter.
In a phone conversation b/w #Iranian & #US Presidents just now: @HassanRouhani: "Have a Nice Day!" @BarackObama: "Thank you. Khodahafez."
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013
In phone convo, President #Rouhani and President @BarackObama expressed their mutual political #will to rapidly solve the #nuclear issue.
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013
@BarackObama to @HassanRouhani: I express my respect for you and ppl of #Iran. I'm convinced that relations between Iran and US.. 1/3
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013
will greatly affect region. If we can make progress on #nuclear file, other issues such as #Syria will certainly be positively affected 2/3
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013
I wish you a safe and pleasant journey and apologize if you're experiencing the [horrendous] traffic in #NYC 3/3
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013
(Note: The latter three tweets look different because Rouhani later deleted them too.)
Rouhani, who assumed office in August, is known for his moderate policies compared to those of his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His apparent adoption of social media as a communication tool only underscores this.
According to a report in The Guardian, the Rouhani administration sees Internet censorship as "futile" and has been trying to lift the ban on Twitter, Facebook and other sites restricted in Iran.
Last week, Iran briefly unblocked Twitter and Facebook for the first time since 2009. The sites were re-blocked just a day later, however, and the government claimed the incident was a "technical glitch."
Twitter has yet to verify Rouhani's account, but today's events seem to have independently confirmed its legitimacy.
Images: Mashable composite, Mojtaba Salimi/Wikimedia Commons; the White House; Twitter
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