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Twitter Suspends ‘Fake’ Account that Carried Link to Iran Supreme Leader’s Website

Iran's Supreme Leader Ai Khamenei. (Reuters)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ai Khamenei. (Reuters)
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Twitter Suspends ‘Fake’ Account that Carried Link to Iran Supreme Leader’s Website

Iran's Supreme Leader Ai Khamenei. (Reuters)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ai Khamenei. (Reuters)

Twitter said on Friday it had suspended what it said was a fake account that carried a link to the website of Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday, hours after it carried the image of a golfer resembling former US President Donald Trump apparently being targeted by a drone.

The post, on a Persian-language account carrying a link to Ali Khamenei’s website, had carried the text of remarks by him in December in which he said “Revenge is certain” - referring to the killing of top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, in a US drone attack.

A Twitter spokeswoman said the @khamenei_site account was suspended for violating the company’s platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Asked if the @khamenei_site account was fake, she said it was.

The golfer image tweet was retweeted by Khamenei’s main Persian-language account, although it appeared to have been deleted later. The text and graphic of the tweet was also carried by Khamenei’s official website and widely quoted by Iranian media.

Khamenei’s account and his main Twitter account in English, which did not carry the golfer image tweet, were still operational.

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Iran, US End Nuclear Talks in Rome, Agree to Meet Next Week

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured) in Rome, April 19, 2025. Abbas Araqchi via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured) in Rome, April 19, 2025. Abbas Araqchi via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran, US End Nuclear Talks in Rome, Agree to Meet Next Week

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured) in Rome, April 19, 2025. Abbas Araqchi via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured) in Rome, April 19, 2025. Abbas Araqchi via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS

Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to hold another round of talks next week over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Iranian state TV reported, as they ended their second round of negotiations in Rome over their decades-long standoff.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff negotiated indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.

Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former US President Barack Obama.

Araqchi, in a meeting with his Italian counterpart ahead of the talks, said Iran had always been committed to diplomacy and called on "all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal".

"Such an agreement should respect Iran's legitimate rights and lead to the lifting of unjust sanctions on the country while addressing any doubts about its nuclear work," Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

He said in Moscow on Friday that Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear program with the US is possible as long as Washington is realistic.

"Rome becomes the capital of peace and dialogue," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X. "I encouraged (Araqchi) to follow the path of negotiation against nuclear arms. The hope of the Italian government is that all together may find a positive solution for the Middle East."

For his part, Trump told reporters on Friday: "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."