RFERL:

Although some reports say Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Twitter account has deleted an offending post which led to its "temporary suspension" by Twitter on Friday, others say it is “read only” mode.

The account appears to be live once again, but in a spot check on the morning of Sunday February 17, the latest update on the page dated back to February 14. Technology savvy reporters say the page may still be in read-only mode.

Part of the controversy about whether Khamenei's Twitter has resumed its activity or not is about the embarrassment the development may have caused for Khamenei. Iran's Supreme Leader controls everything in Iran including the media, yet he needs international platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to get his message across as Iranian state TV channels and other state-controlled media lack popularity. On the other hand, as he cannot control the international media, embarrassing developments such as closure of his accounts for propagating violence are inevitable.

The deleted tweet in question was one in which Khamenei endorsed a religious ruling (fatwa) by his predecessor Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, condemning the author of the book The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie to death, in late 1980s. Khamenei had suggested in the post that the sentence is still relevant and irreversible.

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