Iranian writer tweets dot to Khamenei, gets imprisoned

Hosseyn ShanbehZaadeh, an Iranian writer and blogger, replied yesterday to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei’s X account with a simple dot. This simple tweet soon went viral, reaching at least a million views, 20,000 likes and almost 1,500 reposts before being taken off, in what is known online as a ‘ratio’ – when a comment receives more positive engagement than the original post.

However, this was not the end of the story. Soon enough ShanbehZaadeh was reportedly arrested on the charge of espionage for Israel, and a viral campaign for his sake started online, with a hashtag carrying his name.

One user posted an imaginary mathematical equation showing that a dot is larger than Khamenei, an image which also went viral.

X users mock Islamic Republic

Another posted a picture of ShanbehZaadeh and another one of a purported Mossad female spy dressed up as an Iranian citizen, adding: “The spy which the Mossad sends VS the spy which the Islamic Republic arrests,” ridiculing the arrest of ShabnehZaadeh.

More on the issue of spies, Iranian activist and political prisoner Arash Sadeghi wondered, “The definition of the crime of espionage states: Whenever a person provides classified information to persons who do not have the authority to access it, it is an act of espionage. How can you accuse an editor, writer and satirist, whose only forum was his Twitter page, of spying?”

Caricaturist Reza Aghili urged his followers to write as much as they can for ShanbehZaadeh.

“Silence brings a terrible fate for the prisoner who was arrested on charges of espionage for Israel,” he added.

Another anti-Islamic Republic user mocked the Islamic rule in Iran, adding, “God's throne trembles with a drop of wine, and Islamic rule with just a dot.”