Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, elected as Iran's new supreme leader, revealed a paid account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Critics said this means X violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.
On the 12th (local time), Mojtaba Khamenei's official X account, "@Rahbarenghelab_," displayed the paid subscriber "blue check mark," commonly called the "blue badge."
Paid subscribers on X can write long posts beyond the basic 280-character limit. They can also upload longer videos in high definition. In particular, posts from paid subscribers are sometimes prioritized at the top of search results and elsewhere.
Mojtaba's side appears to have subscribed to maximize propaganda effects, such as fully conveying his messages to more users. In response, the U.S. nonprofit watchdog Technology Transparency Project (TTP) told CNBC that this is a "clear sanctions violation."
It added, "Over the past three years, X has generated revenue by providing premium services to multiple U.S.-sanctioned individuals linked to terrorism," and "now the same is happening with a sanctioned leader of a country at war with the United States."
Amid this, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) are imposing broad sanctions on the Iranian government. As a result, U.S. corporations are strictly prohibited from all commercial and financial transactions with sanctioned parties unless they obtain special authorization or approval from the U.S. government.
Mojtaba Khamenei used X the same day to issue hard-line remarks, including, "I assure everyone we will not abandon revenge for the blood of the martyrs," and "the leverage of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used."