The Iranian supreme leader’s recently verified X account could put the company on the wrong side of U.S. sanctions, a monitoring group says. The Tech Transparency Project, which published last month a report on X granting premium perks to sanctioned officials in Iran, now claims the verified account of the country’s new leader raises new questions on the matter.
The TTP Remarks that the X account of the new Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, appears to pay a premium X subscription even though he is on the list of people sanctioned by the US government since 2019. As the group points out, the Iran-based account was created this month and currently has a blue check mark, which usually indicates that the account holder is paying for a subscription.
Last month, TTP discovered that X was offering premium subscriptions to Iranian officials sanctioned by @USTreasurya transaction that may violate sanctions.
It didn’t stop there.
An account of Iran’s new supreme leader created this month also carries the blue premium checkmark.🧵 pic.twitter.com/5K9Ss1Sex8
– Technology Transparency Project (@TTP_updates) March 12, 2026
The account belonging to Mojtaba Khamenei was enriched by other state-linked accounts in Iran, including the one previously belonging to Khamenei’s father. This account has a gray check mark, indicating that it belongs to a verified government official. Verified accounts on X are rewarded with additional visibility on the platform, as well as other benefits. The young Khamenei’s verified account has already gained more than 20,000 new followers in the hours following TTP’s first publication about him.
“The new Supreme Leader’s account is just the latest account from a sanctioned entity that is apparently paying X for premium services,” TTP Director Katie Paul said in a statement to Engadget. “TTP has identified dozens of accounts, many linked to designated terrorists, that have subscribed to bounty
As Paul notes, this isn’t the first time TTP has questioned whether X is violating US sanctions through its premium service. In 2024, the group released a report indicating that X accepted paid verifications from more than two dozen sanctioned individuals and groups. The company said at the time that it had implemented “a robust and secure approach to our monetization features.”
X did not respond to a request for comment. But within hours of Engadget contacting Khamenei’s account, the blue checkmark was removed. The company also removed blue checks from a handful of Iran-based accounts reported by TTP last month following report Since Wired.
Updated, March 13, 2026, 9:08 a.m. PT: This story has been updated to reflect changes made to Khamenei’s account after its publication.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-could-be-breaching-us-sanctions-on-iran-watchdog-warns-213550284.html?src=rss
