Iran's President and all of its cabinet ministers have opened accounts on Facebook. This is a clear sign that the new government under the leadership of President Hasan Rouhani is willing to embrace openness. The social networking site is banned in the country. It is worth recalling that only two years ago, protestors in Iran had used the social networking site to stage massive protests against the former government.
Dr. Rouhani's symbol in the recently held election was the "key". The pro-reform daily Shargh said today that the new government “may (well) turn the lock of (Internet) filtering.”
Today's development follows a charming round of Twitter diplomacy. Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif sent a tweet last week wishing the Jewish people "Happy Rosh Hashanah." In a round of Twitter exchanges with Christine Pelosi (daughter of Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives), he distanced himself from the holocouast denials of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
First Twitter. And now Facebook. A new government making bold moves towards openness. What's not to like?
