February 19, The Iran�Project - In a�politically-motivated move, Twitter temporarily banned @khamenei_ir account from further tweeting until it deleted a tweet referencing the 1989 fatwa against�British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie.�The move drew the criticism�of Twitter users and journalists who saw it as a sign of the social media giant's double standard policy.�

Critics said Twitter's action took place�while it had previously used a newsworthiness standard to defend its refusal to apply abuse and harassment rules to US President Donald Trump�s account.

Twitter confirmed on Friday Feb. 10 that it had enforced its policy against allegedly violent threats of violence on the platform when it made inaccessible a tweet by @khamenei_ir, an account that is widely associated with Iran�s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

In a�tweet, the account @khamenei_ir that provides "regular updates and news about Ayatollah Khamenei, marked the anniversary of the 1989 "fatwa" against Rushdie.

The February 14, 1989" fatwa", a non-binding legislative opinion in Islamic law, was issued by tthe�then-leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini. It instructed Muslims to execute Rushdie, who was accused of blasphemy over his controversial novel "The Satanic Verses".

"Imam Khomeini�s fatwa regarding Salman Rushdie is based on divine verses and just like divine verses, it is solid and irrevocable," the account tweeted Thursday.

Meanwhile, many saw the move�as disproportionate, with one user saying that "no direct threat was made".

Denouncing the move, a senior staff of� @khamenei_ir 's office wrote on his Twitter page:

"Twitter�s recent move to limit @Khamenei_ir accounts despite 5 emails acknowledging that there has been no violation of TOS, is an obvious politically-motivated move influenced by intl. pressure groups. Imam Khomeini�s historic fatwa cannot be censored."

Twitter has been repeatedly criticized for its selective approach to the treatment of calls for violence and hate speech. The debate has been fueled by a series of warmongering statements tweeted by Trump, in which he threatened North Korea with "fire and fury" and Iran with �consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" in an all-caps tweet.