Elon Musk’s X on Monday blocked an account tied to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after it posted a message in Hebrew.
The account was suspended after Israel attacked Iran this past weekend. This happened because Iran had fired 200 rockets at Israel earlier this month.
“In the name of God, the most merciful,” the X post said in Hebrew on Sunday. The phrase is a standard Islamic greeting.
“X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules,” the social media platform wrote. The company did not clarify which rule the post violated. X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Sunday, Khamenei said during a speech that Israel’s strikes “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed.”
Another X account linked to Khamenei made a post in English on Sunday about Israel’s attacks.
“Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran,” the post read. “They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.”
The 85-year-old supreme leader has shared messages in different languages from various accounts on X (formerly Twitter) over the years. In 2018, the platform got criticism for keeping one of his accounts active even after it posted a threatening message.
Also Read | Gaza Faces Looming Famine: WHO Chief Warns of Peril for Future Generation
“Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen,” the tweet said.
World leaders were quick to denounce the aggressive post. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the tweet and Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland called it an “incitement to violence.”
But Twitter left the post up, citing its controversial policy on world leaders.
“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” the policy said.
In 2022, Twitter banned an account linked to the supreme leader because it shared a video showing a drone strike that killed Trump. However, other accounts connected to Khamenei were still allowed to stay online.
Also Read | Elon Musk Joins Trump Rally, Calls Himself ‘Dark MAGA’
Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta said it suspended Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Khamenei after “repeated violations” of its “dangerous organizations and individuals policy.”
Elon Musk, who is the world’s richest person with a net worth of $268.6 billion, bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion. He changed the name to X and said it would be a platform for free speech.
Before buying it, Musk had criticized Twitter for blocking links to The Post’s stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop and for permanently banning then-President Donald Trump after the January 6 attacks. After the purchase, Musk restored Trump’s account.
