international intrigue

Overexcited Iranian President Tweets Early About Talking to Obama on the Phone

News of today’s historic phone call between Iran’s new, more moderate president Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama — the first official contact between the countries’ top offices in more than 30 years — was prematurely announced by an errant tweet on Rouhani’s account. It was promptly deleted, but everyone saw it anyway because that never works. Right before Obama took the stage to address the world, he was beaten by a sentence fragment.

Just now I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani,” Obama confirmed minutes later, explaining that the contact “underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but also indicates the prospect of moving on that difficult history.” He and Rouhani discussed the ongoing nuclear standoff between the countries and insisted, “I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution.” He called on Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart to hash out the details.

Rouhani, again on Twitter as he headed to JFK Airport, mostly stuck to the more casual stuff:

As of now, Obama and Rouhani do not follow one another on Twitter. This is how we do diplomacy now — with hashtags. It’s not perfect.

Hassan Rouhani Tweets About Obama Call Early