Elon Musk’s X social media platform on Monday suspended a newly created account that had been posting messages in Hebrew ostensibly on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The platform flagged the account with a note merely stating, “X suspends accounts that violate the X Rules.” The X team did not specify what rule had been broken and did not respond to a request for a comment from the Associated Press.
For years, Khamenei‘s administration has managed several accounts on X for the 85-year-old supreme leader, and in the past, it has posted messages in a number of different languages. On Sunday, the X account began with the Hebrew greeting, “In the name of God, the most merciful,” which is a common greeting in Islam.
Earlier this year, Meta removed Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with Khamenei, citing his support of Hamas after the group attacked Israel on October 7 last year.
Ironically, Iran has banned both X and Facebook for years, prompting Iranians to rely on virtual private networks (VPNs) to access those social media platforms.
The move to ban the Hebrew-speaking account came after Israel bombed Iran for the first time early Saturday morning, carrying out what it claimed were “precise and targeted” airstrikes in and around Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Iran’s leadership responded defiantly. “We do not seek war, but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“We will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime,” he warned.