Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has obtained a blue check mark on his official English-language X account, despite the social-media platform’s policy barring sanctioned individuals from purchasing its premium subscription service, CNBC reported.

The English-language account is subscribed to X Premium and has about 175,000 followers, more than Khamenei’s Farsi-language account, the news agency said. The account, which was created in March and is listed as being located in Iran, has been used to post about the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The development follows the removal of a blue check from Khamenei’s Farsi-language account after its verified status was previously highlighted by the Tech Transparency Project, CNBC said.

The issue has drawn scrutiny because Khamenei has been on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list since 2019, meaning U.S. persons and entities are generally barred from dealing with him, CNBC reported. Blue check marks on X are reserved for paid Premium or Premium+ subscribers and come with added features including longer posts, longer video uploads, and a share of advertising revenue. 

X’s own policy states that people with whom the company is not permitted to have dealings under U.S. or other applicable sanctions laws may not purchase X Premium, though CNBC reported it is unclear how that rule is enforced. The company also assigns gray check marks to government officials at no charge, CNBC noted, and that system had previously been used for accounts associated with the elder Khamenei.

Read more at CNBC