(Image Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Iran's newly-elected president tweeted a blessing to mark the beginning of Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year, a move that is in sharp contrast to the venom towards Jews from Iran's previous president.

"As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah," Hassan Rouhani tweeted from what appears to be his English account.

The message was accompanied by a photo of an Iranian Jew praying at a synagogue.

Of Iran's population of 75 million people, less than 9,000 people are Jewish, according to a 2012 Census.

The message showed a stark contrast between Rouhani, and his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who repeatedly denounced Israel, said the Jewish nation should be "eliminated," and questioned whether the Holocaust actually happened.

Rouhani, a Muslim cleric, was elected as a moderate and was sworn into office in August.