Twitter blocks real Iranians' accounts, overlooks US ‘regime change’ propaganda: Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Twitter has blocked the accounts of "real Iranians" but overlooks the "regime change" propaganda spewing out of Washington.

Zarif made the remarks in a post on his official Twitter page on Sunday addressing Jack Patrick Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter.

He said the accounts of real Iranians, including TV presenters and students, have been shuttered for allegedly being part of an "influence operation."

"How about looking at actual bots in Tirana used to prop up 'regime change' propaganda spewed out of DC?" the top Iranian diplomat asked, alluding to the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), whose members are currently based in Albanian capital city.

Iran's ambassador to UK, Hamid Baeidinejad, also took to Twitter noting that according to news outlets, there are 1,500 members of the MKO in Camp Ashraf in Albania, who produce millions of fake messages over online social media all of which seek regime change in Iran.

The Iranian diplomat noted that as demanded by Zarif, Twitter must take action to shutter these fake accounts as well.

Back in August, Google removed 39 YouTube channels linked to the Iranian state broadcaster. Google terminated those accounts, along with six blogs on its Blogger service and 13 Google+ accounts linked with Iran. The move came after Twitter and Facebook also blocked hundreds of accounts on suspicion of possible ties with Iran.

Google and Facebook claimed those social media channels and accounts were tied to Iran and Russia and disseminated “disinformation.”

In an article for Press TV, Walt Peretto, an American writer, researcher, analyst noted that “with Google and Facebook’s ties to Western intelligence agencies and their track record of disinfo, such accusations against Iran and Russia appear to be reminiscent of Orwellian doublespeak.”

PressTV-Social media: 'Disinformation' vs. independence

An article written by Walt Peretto, American writer, researcher, analyst, and sociopolitical psychologist

Read more:

• IRIB slams closure of its social media accounts as 'clear censorship'
• Google terminates 'Iran, Russia-linked' accounts

The MKO has a dark history of assassinations and bombings against the Iranian government and nation. It notoriously sided with former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

The group has been behind most of the terrorist attacks, which have claimed the lives of nearly 17,000 Iranians since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.

Initially designated as a terrorist organization by Europe and the US, the group has established close links with Western political parties.

In recent years, several media reports have emerged about top political figures in the US and Europe receiving money from the MKO to speak favorably of the terrorist group.

In September 2016, the last remaining members of the terrorist group were relocated from Camp Liberty (Hurriya), a former US military base near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, to Albania.

Iraq had long urged MKO remnants to leave the country, but a complete eviction of the terrorists had been hampered as a result of the US and European countries' support for the group.

Read more:

• US regime change policy for Iran based on lies, will fail: Analyst
• ‘US using MKO terrorists as anti-Iran leverage’
• Trump administration plotting to use MKO terrorists against Iran: Ex-MKO member

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