Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has subscribed to X Premium on his official English-language account, despite the Elon Musk-owned company’s policy on sanctioned individuals.
It comes after the removal of a blue checkmark on the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Farsi-language account, after the profile’s verified status had been highlighted by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) in March.
Khamenei’s English language X profile currently has more followers than his Farsi-language account, with about 175,000, and has been used to disseminate posts regarding the ongoing U.S.-Israel and Iran conflict. According to the profile, the account is located in Iran and was created in March.
Khamenei X’s profiles have attracted scrutiny due to the leader falling under the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctions list since 2019, prohibiting U.S. persons and entities from dealing with him.
Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a U.S. strike on Feb. 28, amid the escalating war with the United States and Israel.
