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Twitter blocks Iran oil minister's account

November 17, 2020 at 4:12 pm

Bijan Zangeneh [Hossein Zohrevand/Wikipedia]

Twitter blocked the official account of Bijan Zanganeh, the Petroleum Minister of Iran, IRNA reported.

According to report, the reason for Twitter’s move remains a mystery.

Twitter’s rules of conduct include account suspensions in case users promote terrorism or violence, abuse and harassment, or display hateful conduct, among others.

Last month, the United States Treasury Department announced new sanctions against the Iranian oil industry and Zanganeh as part of the Trump administration’s increasing economic pressure on Iran.

In response to the announcement, Zanganeh said US sanctions against him and his colleagues “are a passive reaction to Washington’s failure to cut Tehran’s oil exports to zero”.

Despite sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic in 2018, last September, Iranian oil exports hit the highest level in 18 months, averaging 1.5 million bpd, according to data from TankerTrakers.com.

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