Twitter diplomacy reveals details of Obama, Rouhani phone call

Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani have spoken directly by phone, the first direct contact between US and Iranian leaders since 1979.

The surprise first phone contact between presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani was not only a dramatic moment in US-Iranian ties, but also marks a milestone in digital diplomacy.

Moments before the US leader officially announced he had a phone chat with his counterpart, Iranian president Rouhani had broken the news on Twitter.

Rouhani's account appeared on Twitter after his election this year and his English-language messages have become a sign of Tehran's diplomatic outreach. The leader has been sending a steady stream of tweets during his visit this week the UN General Assembly in New York.

But there has been some controversy about whether the account is officially Mr Rouhani's. The Iranian leader has not directly acknowledged ownership of the account, but a tweetpic posted on the account of Mr Rouhani on a plane departing for Tehran seems to suggest the account is being run with his consent, perhaps by a staffer.

Iranian-American writer Hooman Majd last week reported he had received confirmation the account belongs to Mr Rouhani.

And even as Obama spoke in a televised address at the White House briefing room, Rouhani took to Twitter to outline his side of the exchange.

A flurry of tweet exchanges between the two leaders reveals a much more personal insight into the content of the phone conversation.

The tweets were soon deleted from the account, but not before some observers expressed their shock at the exchange between the two Presidents.

It was a tweet Mr Rouhani felt worthy of retweeting.