Twitter Diplomacy. Or Not.

This past week was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and part of Judaism’s High Holy Days. To commemorate, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu issued his annual holiday greeting. The video was in English and came in just under five minutes in length. In it, he wished Jews, in Israel and beyond, a sweet New Year. He also touted the “oasis of democracy” and the “beacon of stability” that Israel has become for the region and the world. And he (again!) issued a warning to the world regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the dangers that would come from a nuclear-armed Iran. Yep, in a Rosh Hashanah greeting.

That same day, Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s newly elected President, extolled by some to be a moderating force and by others to be an international red herring, offered a Rosh Hashanah greeting of his own of his own, via Twitter:

As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah.

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of an Iranian Jew praying in tallit and phylacteries at a synagogue in Iran. Controversy followed. But first, a few quick notes regarding the Jewish community of Iran:

Jews have lived in Iran for thousands of years. While a 2011 census shows that their numbers have diminished significantly of late (to less than ten thousand), prior to that it was believed that there were between twenty and thirty thousand Jews living there, making Iran home to the largest Jewish population in a Muslim-majority country and second largest Jewish population in the Middle East. Iran’s Majlis, or parliament, has 290 representatives. One of those seats is held exclusively for a member of Iran’s Jewish community. While religious intolerance has been a problem in Iran for members of faiths that were established after Islam, most notably the Baha’i, members of Judaism and Christianity, which preceded Islam, are generally protected as People of the Book. The Jewish holiday of Purim actually derives from events in ancient Persia (modern day Iran). Granted the holiday only came to be because members of the ruling class sought the annihilation of the Jews. But in the end it was not God or even a Jewish prophet who came to their aide, but the King of Persia himself who stepped forward to save the Jews.

Back to Rosh Hashanah and Twitter. Rouhani tweeted his Rosh Hashanah greeting and many tried to make it out to be proof that Iran was moderating. A somewhat silly theory as (shown above) Iran has often differentiated between Zionists (Israel) and Jews. This is not to say that it would not be a good sign if the newly-elected President of Iran was interested in starting a dialogue online, but he wasn’t wishing anyone a Happy Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). He was wishing them a Happy New Year, a commemoration that can be totally disconnected from Israel. Others, including Netanyahu, came out with skepticism and doubt that the tweet had any greater meaning. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, also tweeted a Rosh Hashanah greeting. His was simpler, stating simply: Happy Rosh Hashanah.

After much reporting, retweeting and discussion, Iranian officials denied the Rouhani tweet and confirmed the Zarif tweet.(Zarif himself has publicly confirmed his tweet to both Iranian and Western journalists). Upon first read, it seems absurd that Iran would deny a tweet by their President.  Again, at first glance, it is easy to wonder if Iran understands how the internet works. (A reaction not helped by the fact that in their denial they mentioned his “tweeter.”) But in fairness, they did not deny he sent the tweet, rather that he did not in fact have a “tweeter account.”

This is interesting in and of itself. First, there are several accounts set up in Rouhani’s name, both in English and in Farsi. The account in question is certainly not a parody account. There are no jokes, a la Kim Jung Number Un. It more resembles an official White House account. Little personality, lots of information and a few general thoughts. The account is not verified, but that makes sense, because that would presumably take contact with a company that has been banned in Iran, and that itself is headquartered within “The Great Satan.” Yes, Twitter is actually outlawed in Iran. In this light, denying that their President has a Twitter account (whether or not he does) makes more sense. What is more confusing is that Iran’s Foreign Minister openly uses Twitter, a service that is barred from use in Iran. (Zarif, along with 14 other Iranian Ministers, have also setup Facebook pages since Rouhani was elected President. Facebook too is barred in the Islamic Republic.)

Along with using the site to tweet New Year’s greetings to Jews around the world, Zarif has also used it to attempt to dispel the notion that Iran denies the Holocaust by seeking to (disingenuously) place the entirety of Iran’s Holocaust denying on previous Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

One more note on President Rouhani and Twitter; he used the site to chime in on Syria’s use of chemical weapons against its own citizens:

We completely & strongly condemn use of chemical weapons in Syria because Islamic Republic of Iran is itself victim of chemical weapons.

I have searched for an Iranian denunciation of this tweet and have yet to find it. If I missed it, please point me in the right direction in the comments or on Twitter. As of now, I don’t think that it is there. And Rouhani’s purported account (as of the time of this posting) is still live and tweeting very regularly on matters very much in line with what most would expect from the twitter account of an elected official.

Given the topic of this post, there is one more side story this week worth mentioning here. Egypt, in an attempt to prevent communications between armed groups in the Sinai Peninsula, have shut down local landline and cell phone networks. Did the militants tear down shop and head home? Sadly, no. Rather than being kept in the dark, they have been bypassing the shutdown by using Israeli (and Palestinian) mobile networks. Here’s hoping for spotty service!

Follow me on twitter @jlemonsk