State Dept. Spoke To Twitter About Keeping Iran Online

WASHINGTON — The State Department this week asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled maintenance shutdown of its service to keep information flowing from inside Iran amid the growing crisis over its disputed election, three U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The officials said the department intervened with Twitter executives to urge them to delay a planned shutdown of the microblogging site that would have kept it offline for 90 minutes during what would have been daytime on Monday in Iran.

The request was apparently honored by Twitter, to ensure Iranians would be able to communicate with each other if other communication avenues were shut down during that brief postelection period.

The move also allowed the U.S. government to maintain access to eyewitness accounts of what is happening on the ground in Iran, the officials said. Iran has been roiled by protests after hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was announced the winner over opposition challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Twitter announced on its Web site Monday that it had rescheduled the maintenance shutdown citing "the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran."

Twitter postponed the maintenance one day.

Comments

[rainbowblue]

I am never suprised at true patriotism of the tinfoil hat community. You guys give the CIA way too much credit. Hasn't it basically been proved that they a bunch bumbling fools that really don't know what they're doing? True, their successes aren't published, but they're failures are a mile long list.

[rainbowblue]

What is more likely going on here is that while the government didn't proke the riots (revolution?), it sure isn't sad to see them, and is going to support them in subtle ways, hence the lack of a Twitter downtime.

[Tuckerndfw]

Read the book "Inside the Company: CIA Diary" by Philip Agee, a former CIA case officer in S. & Central America.

The CIA is far from being incompetent. The CIA's primary job is overthrowing governments hostile to "US interests." (ExxonMobil, et al)

Where is Saddam Hussein?

How about the Taliban?

The CIA is currently atttempting to do to Iran's government what they did to the Taliban & Saddam Hussein.

I'm surprised a few American reporters haven't been beheaded.

Maybe they're holding that in reserve in case their insiders in the Iranian government don't deliver.

BTW, have you ever heard of Operation AJAX? The CIA overthrew Iran's government in 1953. That's a historical fact.

When the State Department got directly involved, that pretty much indicted the entire US gov't as being involved. Which includes the CIA, which has been operating in Iran for years.

The question for the Iranian people is who amongst their leaders is conspiring with the CIA. That is the group that intends to become Iran's latest dictators on behalf of the US.

[maudefrickert]

I smell a rat.

[ProzacsPerspective]

This is a great day to be American.

The conservatives lied and voted 1.3 million innocent Iraqis off the planet. Hillary Clinton makes a phone call and gives millions of people hope (and power).

I'm burning my red shoes, you'll never catch me in Kansas!

[DavidDial]

I read all your posts, Tucker, and now I have a question for you. Once upon a time H.L. Mencken said, "The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety." Do you think he had conspiracy theorists in mind?

[Tuckerndfw]

HL Mencken was totally incorrect. The primary emotion for all animals, including himans, is fear. Fear is what motivates humans to do most everything we do, same as all other animals.

Inferior is subjective & requires a viewpoint. The two conditions are incompatible as a general assessment of human nature. Total absence of fear would indicate insanity, not superiority. The only person who would consider a lunatic not possessing rational fears superior would be other lunatics.

Fear is what keeps humans alive, you know, what keeps us from jumping from ten story windows rather than taking the stairs.

But, that seems to be irrelevant to the topic at hand or any of my comments.

Stating an opinion based on observable facts is not idicative of fear or emotions. It indicates logical analysis based on observable facts and history.

Anyone who suggests the CIA is not involved appears to be ignorant or delusional given the fact the US is actively attempting to overthrow Iran's government. And, has been for years.

And, coincidentally, overthrew Iran's government in 1953.

Perhaps Mencken had words of wisdom about people who ignore simple truths and plain facts when confronted by an onslaught of media hyperbole.

[DavidDial]

...and are you frightened by the CIA?

[Tuckerndfw]

The US Congress allocated several hundred millon dollars for the sole purpose of overthrowing Iran's government.

The US NEVER learns. We think we can hand pick other nation's leaders without consequence. The Iraqi people did not choose Iraq's leadership, the US gov't did. The Afghans did not choose Afghanistan's leaders, the US gov't did. Which is why both governments will fail.

Which is the same thing we are attempting to do in Iran.

Iranians would be stupid to accept US help. The Shah of Iran was the most brutal dictator on the planet, but he was our dictator so that made him a saint to the western media. Until 1979 when the Iranians overthrew him. But, they didn't do it with mindless protests, they used military tactics & weaponry.

I've been posting for the past couple of days that this is a classic CIA (agent provocateur) action. This latest tidbit only confirms my original assertion and belief.

[rainbowblue]

Your accusation does not explain the government's action of taking over all the media before the election results were announced. It doesn't explain some alleged purges of their election office. It doesn't explain Iran's government, period. Not to mention the protestors are not going for an overthrow of the clerics, but a new election. Put your tinfoil hat away.

[Tuckerndfw]

I make no claims as to know what the plan is other than to overthrow Iran's current gov't, which is hostile to "US interests" (ExxonMobil, et al).

The CIA typically has an inside man (or group) within the current gov't that they are attempting to help. I have no idea who that man or group may be.

Same thing we just did in Iraq & Afghanistan.

In 1953, the CIA & friends overthrew Iran's democratically elected goverment & installed the Shah of Iran, the most brutal dictator on the planet during his reign of terror. He was not a foreigner to Iran, he was their former king. The CIA recruited and installed him as Iran's dictator with the help of Iranians. Much to their shame.

He was the US supported brutal dictator the Iranian people (Iran's currrent gov't) overthrew in 1979.

The CIA is actively involved and we know that because the State Department is involved. Unless you want to argue the State Department decided to inject itself for no particular reason, they were just kind of bored and wanted to make sure rioters could communicate with each other.

That's far nuttier than anything I've proposed.

I know of no other case in which the State Department (publicly) directly intervened on behalf of rioters & vandals.

The sad part is once the CIA installs their dictator(s), regardless what they do, the western media will portray them as wise, beneficent dictators only concerned about the Iranians they are murdering and torturing.

[Tuckerndfw]

Well, there you have it.

That's fairly conclusive evidence the CIA is behind the protests.

Just like Philip Agee, former CIA case officer, wrote in his book, "Inside the Company: CIA Diary" about 40 years ago.

[tabaqui]

Huh? How is that 'conclusive evidence'? Right now, there's a pretty solid media blackout in/from Iran, and Twitter is one of the few things that is allowing Iranians to communicate with each other and the outside world.

I'd really like to know how this links the protests to the CIA....

[Tuckerndfw]

Why does the State Department care if a bunch of rioters can communicate with each other?

The presidential election was meaningless, as are the protests. The protesters aren't protesting the unelected leaders of Iran, they are protesting over Iran's irrelevant election. George Bush could be elected president of Iran and nothing would change other than the president's ranting would be even more incomprehensible.

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN and hard core right wing extremist, wrote an excellent analysis of the situation in Iran on the Politico website. And severely chastised the media for overhyping it as something it's not.

The ONLY rational explanation is the CIA, in typical CIA fashion, used agent provocateurs to incite people to riot. The US is currently actively attempting to overthrow Iran's gov't. This appears to be part of that effrot.

This operation is classic CIA, according to Agee's book. And, it was written in the 1960's about his activities in S & Central America. Nothing ever changes.

[ritual-reality-x]

shades of 1953, eh? i've been wondering about that myself. still, i have to wonder if the west hasn't completely misread/missed the prevailing political winds in iran.