No tweeting for Rouhani

Iranian president admits at World Economic Forum that account, which has burgeoning following, is run by aides

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DAVOS, Switzerland — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has attracted 170,000 Twitter followers, but he acknowledged Thursday that he doesn’t write his own posts — his “friends” deserve the credit for that.

Rouhani’s face lit up Thursday at the Davos business forum while discussing his new Twitter account, through which he follows only Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and three others.

Aasked about his posts on Twitter and Facebook, Rouhani acknowledged that he doesn’t write his own entries. Instead, the Iranian leader told journalists at a mostly off-the-record briefing that they were written by “friends.”

The matter of authorship has been an issue. In September, officials in Iran’s presidency denied that Rouhani had a Twitter account, following a tweet that appeared to be by the leader offering his own Rosh Hashana message.

At the time his active Twitter presence was believed to be run by his close aides, but his office left the actual stewardship of the account vague. Many of Rouhani’s Cabinet members also have opened Facebook accounts.

Zarif, for example, also is active on Twitter, where he has 117,000 followers, and on Facebook, where news has frequently been posted about Iran’s nuclear program deal and other major developments.