Social media may have helped de-escalate tensions between US, Iran
According to a report, tweets by both US President Donald Trump and Iran foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, helped contain the situationThere was no direct communication between the two sides with neither country having an embassy in the other
Social media platforms have come under severe criticism of late for allegedly allowing unverified content and “fake news" on their platforms, but Twitter could possibly be credited with helping curb the searing tensions between the US and Iran and not letting it spiral into a full-scale war.
According to a report on the American news website Wired.com on Thursday, the tweets by both US President Donald Trump and Iran foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday night, after the killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday, helped contain the situation, as neither wished to escalate tit-for-tat attacks into a full-fledged war.
Click here to view enlarged graphic
“The tweets proved a remarkable modern-day answer to the long-running challenge world leaders have faced in struggling to communicate between nations during unfolding crises—communication is necessary both to understand adversaries’ intentions and to telegraph their own," the article said.
It noted that between 7pm ET (American Eastern Time) and 10pm ET, Twitter was awash with rumors that the US had ordered its fighter jets to deliver an appropriate response after Iran had hit American bases in Iraq, and subsequently, Tehran had launched several more missiles in a retaliatory move.
This was followed by the US Federal Aviation Authority’s warning to all American commercial airlines not to overfly Iran, Iraq, and the Gulf of Oman, fuelling speculation that tensions could spike further.
Then came tweets from the verified accounts of Zarif and Trump stating facts.
“Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," said Zarif’s tweet. Analysts and others were quick to home in on words like “concluded" and that Iran was not seeking “escalation or war".
Trump’s tweet followed soon after, with a seemingly encouraging “All is well!’
According to Santosh Desai, who heads Future Brands, a brand consulting and management firm, in this case, Twitter, seems to have emerged as the “public hotline" between the Iranians and the Americans. There was no direct communication between the two sides with neither country having an embassy in the other.
“Most often social media platforms have been used to breed trouble. It’s also been used by people from all walks of life to make public pronouncements of various kinds," said Desai, who comments on trends in the social media. “In this case, it seems to have been used by Trump and Zarif to defuse tensions, to put across their messages in a transparent manner, very directly without anyone in the middle. If it was done between diplomats, the lexicon would have been different and you would need people to interpret it. Here it was clear and, therefore, fortuitous."
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!