White House uses Twitter to justify Iran nuclear deal

Washington, July 22: In a clear indication of social media's increasing clout and power to influence public opinion, the White House has launched a Twitter account and a webpage to sell the nuclear deal with Iran to the American public.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters en route to Pittsburgh on Tuesday that the digital tools would be used to "advocate for the recently announced agreement to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon", Time reported.

Twitter handle @TheIranDeal - that has already gathered more than 2,000 followers - would be used by officials to "distribute facts" and "engage" with the public about the deal. The webpage will host fact sheets and infographics.

The nuclear deal with Iran is awaiting approval from the Congress, which in turn is not very enthusiastic about the deal.

Administration officials immediately began their sales pitch once the deal was reached last week, sending Vice President Joe Biden to visit with Democrats on Capitol Hill and having the President host a press conference at which he sought to address concerns about the deal raised by members of Congress and allies in the region who are opposed to it.

The newly launched Twitter account is likely to see a lot of fireworks as the opposition and many allies are not in favour of the nuclear deal which is being termed as "historic" by its proponents.

IANS