Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has drawn the bemused attention of the internet for his bizarre, years-old social media posts, as his regime faces existential threats from Israel and the United States.
While Khamenei’s government struggles to respond to blistering Israeli strikes that have killed most of its senior military leadership and top nuclear scientists and tries to ward off a U.S. intervention, internet users have turned their attention to his past social media use. The ayatollah is a prolific user of X, making over 13,000 posts since joining the platform in 2009. While most of his recent posts are dedicated to saber-rattling announcements and threats against the “Zionist enemy,” his older posts were of a much different tone, especially with his use of internet lingo.
His posts from a decade ago and older are notable for showcasing the dictator’s personal side — he gave relationship advice, showcased his love of literature, and provided anecdotes from his school days of “being naughty&playful.”
“I went 2school w/a cloak since1st days;it was uncomfortable 2wear it in front f other kids,but I tried 2make up 4it by being naughty&playful,” a Sept. 24, 2013, tweet read.
Khamenei, who has been married to his wife for over 60 years, offered other social media users relationship advice.
“Man has a responsibility to understand #woman’s needs and feelings and must not be neglectful toward her #emotional state,” he said in a Sept. 15, 2013, tweet.
“U can’t leave all tasks 2ur #wife&then criticize her.Even if she’s a scientist/politician,yet when interacting within family,she’s a #flower,” he tweeted on Sept. 3, 2013.
His advice was jokingly well-received by users, one of whom dubbed him “Wifeguyatollah Khamenei.”
“When Wifeguyatollah Khamenei discloses the strategies that have sustained his marriage for over 60 years, I sit my black a** down and listen,” user DJProfessorL said.
The ayatollah takes relationship advice seriously enough that the Israel Defense Forces discovered a couple’s therapy book by Khamenei in southern Lebanon during its invasion last year, titled 101 Tips for a Happy Marriage.
This book was found in southern Lebanon. It is called “101 advices for the couple’s happiness”, by the sensitive and wise Khamenei. What the Lebanese (as well as the Iranians) need to be happy is for Khamenei to leave them alone! The region will be rid of this toxic hegemony
pic.twitter.com/XdFe3R6h4k
— Rawan Osman روان عثمان (@RawaneOsmane) October 19, 2024
Responding to one piece of relationship advice, user sovietsoleri joked, “the only nukes they have right now are truth nukes.”
“If only Truth bombs counted in war then Israel would be very very worried,” pundit Dave Greene quipped.
Many users created memes over his relationship advice, with some posting images of the ayatollah photoshopped to look like an anime character.
In a Feb. 25, 2015, tweet, Khamenei boasted about his unique taste in art.
“I’m not into cinema and visual arts but when it comes to poetry and novels, I’m not just a typical audience. #Books #AvidReader,” he wrote.
Khamenei complained about the state of modern Western romance media in a May 24, 2014, tweet:
“What western media describe as ‘romance’, is not true #love. It’s a fleeting sexual excitement with no sense of #responsibility involved,” he wrote.
Netizens compared the dictator’s musings to those of young women on “booktok,” a community of women on TikTok focused on a love of books.
“I am completely at a loss as to what to do with the information that the Ayatollah Khamenei is entering his booktok girl era,” American Mind editor Spencer Klavan said in a post on X.
In more recent posts, Khemenei gave short book reviews, revealing that he read the Persian translation of Bob Woodward’s book Fear: Trump in the White House about President Donald Trump’s first term. He revealed that a favorite book of his is Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, saying it “is a book of sociology, a book of history, a book of criticism, a divine book, a book of kindness, #love and #affection.”
The ayatollah is even a fan of Jane Austen, revealing in a 2016 tweet that he read English summaries of her works.
In at least a dozen tweets, he complained that people, especially children, weren’t reading enough. He urged young people to read on vacation, while on the bus or taxi, and before bed.
He encouraged parents to get their children “2read #books;eg 2read books when they want 2go 2bed or hours of Fridays & summer #holidays.”
The ayatollah revealed a valuable life hack in several decade-old tweets: reading during brief windows of free time.
“I’ve read #books of over 20 volumes in these 15, 20-min of free times; maybe hundreds of books. I know many ppl who’ve done the same,” he tweeted on Sept. 14, 2013.
User kunley_drukpa compiled many of his old tweets into a mocking “inspirational” tweets video, replete with soothing music and a beach background.
Inspirational Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamenei Tweets pic.twitter.com/HYVS2Py3zK— ɖʀʊӄքǟ ӄʊռʟɛʏ
(@kunley_drukpa) June 20, 2025
The myriad strange tweets from Khamenei led some to hypothesize that his X account was hacked, with said hackers inserting embarrassing posts retroactively. A more likely explanation is that Khamenei’s tweets appear to be bits taken from his speeches and transliterated into Twitter lingo, possibly by staffers. Many of his old tweets are taken from his public speeches over his 35 years in power.
Glimpses of the ayatollah’s sensitive side have continued into the modern day, despite his repressive policies at home, especially toward women.
“‘A #woman is a delicate flower and not a housemaid.’ A woman should be treated like a flower in the home. A flower needs to be cared for. Its freshness & sweet scent should be benefited from and used to perfume the air,” he wrote on Dec. 18, though the post was community noted to point out his regime’s treatment of women.
“If the supreme leader grand Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei is sensitive lover-boy posting on his main, what’s stopping you from doing the same?” user sionsonoist asked.
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Khamenei was mocked last year over his X posts as well, with one user describing posts around Israel’s devastating air campaign against ally Hezbollah as video game “loading screen tips.”
Despite his sensitive persona online, Khamenei runs an increasingly despotic regime in Iran, being accused of severe human rights abuses. He presided over brutal crackdowns against protests over the years that have killed thousands. His support for Shiite militant and terrorist groups has served as a major source of regional instability over the past three decades.
