Iran's President Called Social Media a "Right"

Twitter diplomacy shone again yesterday evening, this time in the form of a back-and-forth between Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. After being pressed by Dorsey, the president of Iran—who himself is an avid Tweeter despite ruling a country where social media is forbidden—suggested he might be amenable to the idea of easing up on Internet censorship in Iran.

It went like this:

@HassanRouhani Good evening, President. Are citizens of Iran able to read your tweets?

— Jack Dorsey (@jack) October 1, 2013

Evening, @Jack. As I told @camanpour, my efforts geared 2 ensure my ppl'll comfortably b able 2 access all info globally as is their #right.

— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) October 1, 2013

@HassanRouhani thank you. Please let us know how we can help to make it a reality.

— Jack Dorsey (@jack) October 1, 2013

Rouhani was referencing this interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour last week. Amanpour also asked the Iranian president about his Twitter double standard, and again he vaguely stated, "All my efforts are geared to ensure that the people of Iran will comfortably be able to access all information globally and to use it."

The he got a bit more specific and added, "There are large social networks at a global level around today, and I believe that all human beings have a right, and all nations have a right, to use them." You can watch the interview here:

Easing up on social media restrictions is something Rouhani's promised many times—throughout his presidential campaign and in recent months as he's worked to improve international relations. He's personally embraced Twitter and Facebook, and has called censorship "futile."

In another recent show of techno-diplomacy, the Iranian president and President Obama exchanged Twitter pleasantries around a phone call the two leaders held last week to discuss Iran's nuclear program—the first direct exchange between the hostile nations since 1979.

Hassan's advisors live-tweeted the call from the president's Twitter account. For whatever reason the Tweets have since been deleted, but Buzzfeed grabbed a screenshot:

So the question is, will Rouhani keep is word? Hopes shot up last month when citizens noticed that Twitter and Facebook were unblocked in Iran for a few hours. Though the lapse was officially blamed on a technical glitch, some suspect it was a test by the government to see what would happen if they let up on restrictions.

“[It] was a test conducted to see what people would do if Facebook and Twitter were opened,” an anonymous source close to the Rouhani government told the New York Times. “Apparently the test results have been unfavorable, because the sites have been closed again." But with Rouhani's renewed emphasis on using social platforms, perhaps things will open up again.