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Social Media Use by Iran's Sanctioned Officials Poses Dilemma for US

Michael Lipin

   This article originated in [1]VOA's Persian Service.

   The continued use of Twitter and Instagram by senior Iranian officials
   sanctioned by the Trump administration in recent months has put U.S.
   authorities and social media executives in a predicament.

   Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister
   Mohammad Javad Zarif have been posting content frequently on both U.S.
   social media platforms since the Treasury Department added them to its
   Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list in June
   and July, respectively.

   "Here you have an administration that's trying to press hard on the
   Iranian regime, but they are not able to take down the foreign
   minister's access to U.S.-made social content tools," said former State
   Department counterterrorism official Jason Blazakis, who now heads a
   counterterrorism center at the Middlebury Institute of International
   Studies at Monterey, California. "I think they are in a difficult spot
   in terms of how to deal with Silicon Valley," Blazakis added in a VOA
   Persian interview.

References

   1. https://ir.voanews.com/

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