Rafsanjani denies closing his social media accounts

The office for Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani denied that the chairman of the Expediency Council would be suspending all of his social media activities after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly criticized his tweet on Iran’s missile program.

“Unfortunately, in the last few days untrue articles and news was published quoting an anonymous advisor to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani in the media,” read the statement from Rafsanjani’s office April 6. The statement continued that any comments attributed to an adviser to Rafsanjani anonymously and without a full name is unreliable, and if any advisor does make a comment to the media, it is their own personal opinion and not related to Rafsanjani.

The statement also stressed that any official position or news of Rafsanjani is either published through his office or through the public relations department of the Expediency Council, and it criticized the media for writing news about “one of the highest-ranking officials in the country” without first verifying it.

Quoting an anonymous adviser, Iranian media outlets reported April 5 that all of Rafsanjani’s social media accounts would be suspended until there is proper review process for publication. The reports said that the Instagram, Twitter and Telegram accounts for Rafsanjani were run by the editor of his website and were not coordinated with him.