LONDON: Elon Musk has defended his decision to allow figures like Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, to use his social networking platform X by referring to a concept he called the “UN exclusion rule.”
During an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the entrepreneur drew a comparison between the presence of officials from sanctioned countries at UN buildings and their presence on his social media platform.
Musk said: “We do have a kind of UN exclusion rule. You can have, say, the ayatollah who would prefer that Israel not exist, but he’s allowed to go to the UN building in New York.
“Generally, officials from Iran do go to the UN building, even though they’re a heavily sanctioned country. Similarly, you do want to have the leaders of countries represented on social media. You want to hear what they have to say, even if what they say is terrible.”
According to the UN, officials from sanctioned countries, including Iran, are allowed to visit its buildings in New York for diplomatic purposes, based on fundamental principles of international diplomacy and the host country’s obligations to the UN.
Musk used his X platform in October to urge Khamenei to reconsider his anti-Israel stance following Hamas’ attack on Israel.
The attack, orchestrated by thousands of Hamas fighters, resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people, primarily civilians, and the abduction of 240 others to Gaza.
The Iranian regime has expressed support for Hamas’ actions, both on social media and official channels.
Khamenei and other Iranian officials have called for the destruction of Israel over the years, and for decades have financed and armed militant and terrorist groups in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and other countries.
X flagged Khamenei’s post from Oct. 8, in which he shared video footage of festivalgoers fleeing the Hamas militia’s attack, as a violation of X’s rules.
However, the social network determined it to be in the public interest to keep the post accessible.
