Iran supreme leader Khamenei’s X account suspended

Iran's Supreme Leader's Hebrew account suspended by social platform X amid tensions with Israel, unclear violation.

The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew.

The account was suspended early Monday (October 28, 2024) with a brief note appended to it saying: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules”.

It wasn't immediately clear what the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to a request for comment from AP.

The move came after Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Mr. Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that Israel's strikes — in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed”, while stopping short of calling for retaliation.

The X account opened Sunday (October 27, 2024) with a message in Hebrew reading: “In the name of God, the most merciful,” a standard Islamic greeting.

Mr. Khamenei's office has maintained multiple accounts for the 85-year-old supreme leader on X for years and has sent messages in a variety of languages in the past.

A second message corresponded to a speech Mr. Khamenei gave on Sunday and was sent on his English account as: “Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don't know Iran. They still haven't been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.” The message referred to Israel's attack Saturday on Iran.