The nuclear talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, have been a hit on social media in Iran.
Iranians young and old are anxiously watching the talks grind on with unprecedented intensity, according to Iran observers and hundreds of thousands of social media posts from the Islamic republic.
"I can't remember a set of negotiations in post-revolution Iran which has caused such anxiety with people expecting results so much," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli economic analyst at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.
Some Iranians are hoping the economy, strangled by international sanctions, gets better. Others are waiting for news so they can run to the stock exchange to make investments because as soon as there's a breakthrough in negotiations the Tehran stock exchange is going to go up, Javedanfar said.
As talks approached and then passed a Tuesday deadline to reach a framework agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program, social media posts have spiked. The talks between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany would restrict Iran's nuclear program to ensure it remains as peaceful as Iran claims in return for lifting economic sanctions.
There've been 460,000 social media mentions of the talks with a reach of over 56 million people from Iran in the past three days, said Jon Tilton, an independent digital advocacy strategist. Men drove the conversations twice as often as women, with posts from across the country, Tilton said.
"Feels like all of #Iran is sitting outside of Hospital operations room. Worrying Zarif may come out & say: Sorry. Did all I could," Bahman Kalbasi, a reporter for BBC Persian based in New York, wrote on his Twitter account.
Millions of Iranians stayed up watching BBC Persian on Tuesday, as negotiations continued past a self-imposed deadline, Kalbasi said. "People's economic life on the line" and want Iran to come out of isolation, he said.
The anxiety was palpable in several tweets on Thursday.
"Emotions are running high for all as celebrating & r sleep deprived like & his team.awaiting results ," wrote Roozbeh Aliabadi @roozbehaliabadi on Thursday.
Although Iran officially restricts access to Twitter, Javedanfar said the public has access to the Internet and ways to get around government filters.
"A lot of people are watching are watching BBC Persia and Voice of America," Javedanfar said. "I get feedback from people on Twitter that I've never met."
One tweet showed two small children watching the news on television, he said.
The majority of posts show a desire for the removal of economic sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy, and not a desire for their negotiators to stand as tough as the regime has been, he said.
"I don't think people care as much about research and development on centrifuges," Javedanfar said. "People care in Iran about the fact that hospitals in Iran are falling apart."
People are so excited about a potential deal there may be street celebrations after the announcement, which he said would be "a public relations disaster" for the regime, said Ali Alfoneh, an Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"One of the greatest concerns of the regime is in case a deal is reached there will actually be street parties in Tehran and other cities," Alfoneh said. "They have claimed the Iranian public is anti-American and supportive of the nuclear program, but actual display of street happiness would show that people care more about their standard of living than about the nuclear program."
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