X created a new account on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and published posts in Hebrew.
It follows Israel’s first open attacks against Iran this weekend. In a speech on Sunday, Khamenei said that the strikes “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed” by Iran but made no call for reprisal.
The X account posted Sunday with a greeting in Hebrew that read: “In the name of God, the most merciful,” a common Islamic form of address.
Since adopting the service, Khamenei’s office has maintained several X accounts for the 85-year-old supreme leader and even translated text from previous posts into many languages.
Another said to relate to a speech Sunday Khamenei spoke on and posted to his English account: “Zionists are making a mistake about Iran. They do not know Iran.
They have yet failed to correctly understand the Iranian people’s power, initiative, and willpower.” That referred to Israel’s bombardment Saturday of Iran.
This is not the first time Khamenei has been suspended or dropped from social media. Just two months ago, Meta suspended the Facebook and Instagram accounts of the supreme leader who voiced support for the militant group Hamas after its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Social media platforms, including X and Facebook, have been censored in Iran for years, which requires Iranians to use Virtual Private Networks to access those social media platforms.
