Back in June, Iran's presidential elections had a surprise winner: reformer Hassan Rouhani
Western-educated, Rouhani took to Twitter to express his more favorable views of the U.S.
He even suggested he was open to a new approach on the nuclear issue
Rouhani's attitude (and his openness about it on public forums like Twitter) eased US-Iran relations
Allowing actual discussion to occur between the two countries.
In September, Rouhani announced on Twitter that he spoke with President Obama on the phone
It was the first discussion between the heads of Iran and the United States since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
During that convo, Rouhani and Obama discussed a new approach to nuclear negotiations
Which, again, was a huge change.
As you can imagine, the politics of the issue were (and remain) tricky in Iran.
Javad Zarif, Iran's top nuclear negotiator and a trusted ally of Rouhani, tried to dial back concerns that the new administration was acting too weak in its dealings with the United States.
But the groundwork was set for a new round of talks in October
In September, Zarif had productive discussions with Catherine Ashton, the EU Foreign Affairs Chief.
And slowly, the nuclear talks were making progress
By early November, we were approaching an actual agreement
On Twitter, President Rouhani reflected the optimism.
A near-agreement fell through, but Zarif urged his counterparts to keep talking
Javad Zarif urged his western counterparts not to politicize the issue – a clear sign that he didn't want the talks to end.
And as talks continued, he tweeted out a video urging continued progress
View this video on YouTube
Here's the video he posted.
Zarif's optimism seemed at odds with Ayatollah Khamenei's tweets that same day
Undaunted, talks continued – with Rouhani's vocal support
With the news that Sec. Kerry was flying to Geneva, it again seemed that a deal was near
A deal was reached.
The first word came from EU Spokesman Michael Mann
Minutes later, Zarif announced it, too
Followed shortly thereafter by Iran's President
Just how far have we come? Iran's president retweeted John Kerry
Which, much like the talks, would've been unimaginable with Ahmadinejad still in office.
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