Security

U.S. officials say the Internet, and specifically social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, are providing the United States with critical information in the face of Iranian authorities banning Western journalists from covering political rallies. Because the Iranians have shut down Web sites and closed newspapers, one senior official said, "one of the ways people are able to get out the word is Twitter." "There are lots of people here watching" at bureaus and offices across the State Department, another senior official said. "There are some interesting messages going up." Because the United States has no relations with Iran and does not have an embassy there, it is relying on media reports and the State Department's Iran Watch Offices in embassies around the world. The largest such offices are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Berlin, Germany; and London, England, all home to large Iranian expatriate communities.

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