ABSTRACT
American and Iranian leaders used Twitter to engage publicly with each other in unprecedented fashion during the crisis. Iran’s nuclear ambitions are a priority concern for the US. Intelligence reports throughout the early 2000s provided evidence of Iran’s growing nuclear programme and led to a series of crippling sanctions by the US and other states. Switzerland had served as a neutral actor between the US and Iran since the end of diplomatic relations in 1980, attempting to resolve conflicts and bring two sides to the negotiating table. It had initiated the talks that culminated in the JCPOA and facilitated a prisoner exchange in 2019. The broader US–Iran relationship remained tense, however. Pompeo announced on Twitter that Washington would continue its policy of maximum pressure, including new sanctions. If Iran had in fact caused a significant loss of US lives, especially following Trump’s Twitter bombast, social media would probably have amplified calls among US domestic audiences for military retaliation and escalation.
