Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei has an X account, Elon Musk’s platform

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has a new “verified” account on X, the influential social media platform owned by Elon Musk.

Khamenei, whose X handle is @Rahbarenghelab_, tweeted on Thursday about the war against Iran by the US and Israel and the Islamic Republic’s response to it.

“Dear combatant brothers! The desire of the masses is the continuation of an effective and regret-inducing defense. Moreover, the lever to block the Strait of Hormuz must definitely continue to be used,” Khamenei wrote in a post to his more than 44,000 followers on X. All posts translated from Persian.

“I promise everyone that we will not let go of revenge for the blood of your martyrs,” he wrote in another post.

Besides talking about the Strait of Hormuz, Khamenei urged Iran’s neighbors in the Middle East to “clarify their position” and those that host US military bases to close them.

Khamenei was elected Iran’s supreme leader earlier this week to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on the first day of the war on February 28.

Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX, which owns X and artificial intelligence company xAI after merging in February, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mojtaba Khamenei’s new account on the social network. The account has a blue check mark reserved for “Premium” users.”

Wired magazine published an article on February 12 before the start of the war with the headline “Elon Musk Violates U.S. Sanctions by Selling X Premium Accounts to Iranian Leaders.”

The article cited a report by the Tech Transparency Project that said, “The TTP has identified two dozen X accounts run by Iranian government officials, state agencies and state-run news outlets that display a blue check mark, indicating they have access to X’s premium service.”

“The X Premium subscription, which is the only way to get the blue check mark, costs $8 per month, while the Premium + subscription, which removes ads and encourages more reach, costs $40 per month,” the article noted.

Hours after the article was published, the Wire reported, the blue check marks were removed from the accounts of several Iranian officials flagged by Magazine X.

Wired’s article noted that Musk has personally echoed President Donald Trump in “blaming Iranian government officials and supporting thousands of protesters against the regime.”

– CNBC Matt Peterson contributed to this article