Meta has suspended the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei due to what the company calls “repeated violations” of its “dangerous organizations and individuals policy.”
Khamenei was booted from the popular social media platforms following his repeated calls to “wipe Israel off the map.”
Iran is a sworn enemy of Israel, which has been engaged in warfare against Hamas after the Palestinian terrorist organization’s Oct. 7 assault which left nearly 1,200 people dead.
News of Meta’s deactivation of Khamenei’s Facebook and Instagram accounts was first reported by Middle East Eye.
Pro-Israel organizations have lobbied social media companies to remove Khamenei’s accounts.
His Persian-language Instagram page had more than 5.1 million followers, while the English-language version had a following of more than 204,000.
X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has thus far deactivating Khamenei’s account. The despot has more than 1 million followers on the site.
Facebook, Instagram and X are all blocked in Iran, but Khamenei does maintain accounts for audiences outside the country.
The Post has sought comment from Meta, X and the government of Iran.
Khamenei has referred to Israel and Zionism as “an obvious plague for the world of Islam.”
In 2020, Khamenei referred to Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.”
In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 assault, Khamenei wrote on X: “God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.”
X allowed the post to remain despite the fact that it violated its terms of service.
“X has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the post to remain accessible,” X wrote in a note attached to Khamenei’s post.
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