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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Iran's New President Wishes Jews A "Blessed Rosh Hashanah"

Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani
During his stormy eight-year tenure, Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked international outrage for numerous inflammatory comments. Among them: calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and suggesting the Holocaust was a myth.
His newly inaugurated successor apparently has a different view. On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Hasan Rouhani took to Twitter to send the following message:
Image at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57601484/irans-new-president-wishes-jews-a-blessed-rosh-hashanah/

The tweet did not go unnoticed by Christine Pelosi (the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi), who replied on Twitter: "Thanks. The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran's Holocaust denial, sir."
That tweet sparked a reply from Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif:
Image at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57601484/irans-new-president-wishes-jews-a-blessed-rosh-hashanah/
Pelosi took the exchange to heart, tweeting: "It certainly seemed from his tweet that a new day has dawned in Iran. #hope?"
The twitter diplomacy comes on the same day that Iran's new president approved a major policy change. Rouhani confirmed Thursday that Zarif will be Iran's top nuclear negotiator with world powers. Previously, Iran's Supreme National Security Council was in charge of nuclear talks with the U.S. and other nations.
© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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