Iran's leaders offer well-wishes to Jewish community on Rosh Hashanah

Iran's recently appointed foreign minister signaled a major shift in his country's diplomacy with his new Twitter account Wednesday. In only his second tweet, Javad Zarif wished Jews a "Happy Rosh Hashanah."

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year that began on the night of Sept 4.

Zarif even replied to a tweet from Christine Pelosi, the daughter of Minority Leader of the House Nancy Pelosi, who said to him: "Thanks. The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran's Holocaust denial, sir."

"The man," Zarif is presumably referring to in his tweet is former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who reportedly challenged historical accounts of World War II. Zarif originally replied saying, "The man who did is now gone," but deleted that post and replied again to clarify, "The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone."

Zarif confirmed to CNN that he did write those tweets and was aware he was responding to Nancy Pelosi's daughter.

The foreign minister's well wishes to the Jewish community followed a similar tweet from the newly elected President Hassan Rouhani.

Rouhani also retweeted the foreign minister's "Happy Rosh Hashanah" post.

Iran is home to estimated 25,000 Jews.

Al Jazeera