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Did Tweets Help Deescalate Recent US-Iran Tensions?

Sirwan Kajjo

   WASHINGTON - Minutes after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic
   missiles against U.S. forces in Iraq earlier this month, its foreign
   minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, came out with a tweet, saying that his
   country did not seek to escalate with the United States.

     Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under
     Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed
     attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.
     We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against
     any aggression.
     -- Javad Zarif (@JZarif) [1]January 8, 2020

   And minutes after Zarif's comment, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a
   tweet, reassuring the American people that Iran's attack caused no
   casualties among U.S. military personnel.

     All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases
     located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place
     now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped
     military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement
     tomorrow morning.
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [2]January 8, 2020

   The Iranian missile attack was in retaliation for the killing of top
   Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, who died in a recent U.S.
   airstrike in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

   Tweets and private messages

   And while the world was awaiting a major confrontation between the two
   longtime foes, those Twitter messages from both sides helped mitigate
   the tensions and allowed back-channel diplomacy to take its course,
   experts argue.

   "The relatively synchronous transmission of tweets, albeit of limited
   content, allowed both parties to publicly counteract the more strident
   messages coming via official news agencies and press releases," said
   Randall Rogan, professor of communication at Wake Forest University in
   North Carolina.

   Such indirect communication on Twitter "effectively allowed both sides
   to present seemingly contradictory messaging that buffered their
   respective needs to defend and save face while back-channel messaging
   was occurring via diplomatic emissaries conveying more fulsome content
   and sentiment on behalf of both countries," he told VOA.

   Multiple reports said that amid heightening tensions between Washington
   and Tehran, the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents the U.S.
   interests in the country, was busy conveying messages between both
   countries.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1214736614217469953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1214739853025394693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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