It did not take long for social media users to point out that the new X account of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei shows it is based in the Netherlands.
That added to rumours about Mr Khamenei's well-being and where exactly he is. Reports say he was injured in the attack that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The X account was created during an internet blackout that has gripped Iran for much of the year.
“One of our partners has indicated that this account may have used a proxy – such as a VPN, which may change the country or region that is displayed on their profile,” said a message from X on Mr Khamenei's profile, referring to the apparent use of a Virtual Private Network.
World leaders and officials often rely on VPNs, especially in the context of Iran, which faces international sanctions and cuts to internet services.
X, a platform owned by Elon Musk, did not always actively identify user locations, but that changed late last year. X stumbled when it introduced the new account location feature in November, with the company acknowledging inconsistencies. It blamed old data for some of the problems.
Technology experts pointed out at the time that many factors complicate the task of location tracking, including the use of VPNs, which preserve anonymity and often show false locations.
“There are a few rough edges that will be resolved,” Nikita Bier, head of product at X, said at the time.
In the months that have followed, X has made data improvements and added several disclaimers about what the locations might denote. The company has since touted the feature as a “first step to securing the integrity of the global town square" and has not ruled out providing “many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see".
