Tough Words for State Sponsors of Terrorism From...the President of Iran

The Twitter account believed to belong to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani posted messages Wednesday evening slamming nations that support terrorism.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/426111929141035009"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/426112811572269058"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/426117274634702848"]

Users on the social media site quickly pushed back against the president of the nation that is itself widely considered a state sponsor of terrorism, whose alleged activities include financing, providing weapons and training for Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other terrorist groups.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/LukeDCoffey/status/426117717008326656"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/UANI/status/426119174566342657"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/dschorrnyc/status/426112206988918785"]

The U.S. State Department classifies Iran as one of four state sponsors of terrorism, along with Cuba, Sudan and Syria.

More alleged Iranian involvement in terrorism includes orchestrating two deadly bombings in Argentina. Interpol issued arrest warrants for eight Iranians for involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. In 1992, a group linked to Iran and Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29.

Tehran has denied involvement in both attacks.

Now, in response to Iran’s strong support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and the deployment of thousands of Hezbollah troops to Syria to defend government troops, Iran and the militant Shiite organization find themselves victim to repeated terrorist attacks from jihadi Sunni rebel groups, including the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic Front for Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Among the attacks, the Iranian Embassy in Beirut was targeted by two suicide bombings in November that left 23 dead.

Rouhani is in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, where he has apparently been welcomed warmly by Western officials, as suggested by a tweet from New York Times’ Tehran bureau chief Thomas Erdbrink. Rouhani retweeted Erdbrink's posting.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/ThomasErdbrink/status/426064968765554688"]

Besides his criticism of state-sponsored terrorism, Rouhani also tweeted messages on Wednesday expressing optimism about forging a new relationship with the U.S.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/426125397160255489"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/426127807794511873"]

It’s unclear whether Rouhani was including Israel in his invitation to “all nations of the world.”

The Twitter account @hassanrouhani is identified as the “Iranian President’s Sole English Account.” While most media outlets accept that the account is expressing messages on behalf of the Iranian president, it has also been reported that – because Facebook and Twitter are blocked in Iran – a communications team may be tweeting on Rouhani’s behalf.