Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says social media platform X has the blue verification badges from his account, as well as others linked to the foreign minstry.

“X has now removed the blue check from Iran’s MFA Spokesperson’s account—after stripping the ministry and minister’s verified badges—despite our full Premium+ payments.”

Baghaei says the action “fits X’s pattern of selective censorship and American digital piracy”, which he claims is aimed at “suppressing the truth about the US’ illegal war against Iran”.