Rouhani, Twitter Celebrity?

President Hassan Rouhani overtures to the West, historic on multiple levels, are also distinct in their reliance on Twitter as a platform. Since early this week, Twitter itself has noticed and started pinging back, with Jack Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder of Twitter, mentioning Rouhani directly in his tweets.

On September 28 Dorsey tweeted: “Inspiring to see Iranian President @HassanRouhani on Twitter. Welcome.” The following day Dorsey tweeted, “The recent words and actions of both @Pontifex (The Pope) & @HassanRouhani share an impressive spirit of rethinking long-held beliefs. How refreshing!” Both tweets were retweeted by Rouhani’s sole English language Twitter account.

Apparently noticing that he had Rouhani’s attention, Dorsey then went ahead at 11:00am Tuesday morning October 1 to tweet a provocative question to Iran's president. Rouhani must have felt obligated to answer the co-founder of Twitter, because almost five and a half hours later his account tweeted a reply.

Rouhani’s reply to Dorsey’s direct question was not surprising, as he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a televised interview last week last week that he was going to devote efforts in the "next few months" towards delivering on his campaign promises, including opening up the country to information. "There are large social networks at a global level around today," he said. "And I believe that all human beings have a right, and all nations have a right, to use them."

But it didn’t stop there. Dorsey tweeted one last message: “@HassanRouhani thank you. Please let us know how we can help to make it a reality." For obvious reasons, Rouhani left that tweet alone. It was only four-years ago when Iranian security officials labeled Twitter a western spying tool and officially banned the social networking platform after the 2009 anti-government protests. But today a seemingly bold Rouhani, in revolutionary (or anti-revolutionary) fashion is consorting with the co-creator of the spying tool that the Iranian government had warned about.

Since taking office, Iran watchers and analysts have constantly commented on the almost insurmountable odds that Hassan Rouhani faces in trying to accomplish what his supporters voted him into office to do. In order to be able to check off some items on his laundry list of campaign promises, he not only faces challenges from ultra-conservatives back home in Iran, he also finds himself trying to successfully navigate “across the water” into American politics where the largest Iranian population outside of Iran resides.

During last week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, Rouhani held private meetings with influential members of the Iranian-American community. Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did the same when he visited New York, but on those occasions many prominent diaspora figures refused to attend.

One of the influential Iranian-Americans who attended Rouhani's event was Dr. Mohammad Mazaheri, a retired Cleft Palate Clinic physician from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After returning back to Pennsylvania form New York, Dr. Mazaheri spoke with a local media outlet and discussed what Rouhani told them in the private meetings held at the president’s hotel.

"I looked into his eyes as he spoke to us about his commitment to making things better for Iranians and I think he means it," the 65-year-old said. Mazaheri was also assured by Rouhani that his Happy Face Foundation, which gives free treatment to Iranian children with cleft palates will be allowed back into Iran to help those in need.

According to Mazaheri, Rouhani talked about treating religious and ethnic minorities with respect, ending discrimination against women, releasing further political prisoners, and making it easier for Iranians living in the United States to obtain visas to visit family members.

The campaign promises Rouhani made to Iranians living in Iran intersect and are important to Iranians living in the United States. A fulfilled campaign promise has a direct impact on the psyche of both Iranians and Iranian-Americans, which was evident this past week as President Barak Obama and President Hassan Rouhani spoke via telephone shattering a 34 year freeze in direct contact between the two countries.

Following Rouhani’s return to Iran this past weekend, he ordered senior advisor and acting head of the High Council for Iranian Affairs Abroad, Akbar Torkan to review the possibilities of direct flights between the United States and Iran. Rouhani also requested that the relevant authorities review the relevant laws and regulations as soon as possible so that they can provide a reform bill to remove all obstacles and constraints facing Iranians who want to travel to Iran.

Although the president clearly can’t check off anything off this laundry list just yet, no one can argue that he hasn’t had a good week politically both domestically and internationally. But now that “Rouhani mania” is over in the United States, he now faces a tough road littered with troublesome obstacles ahead back in Iran.