Fact Check: 'Tweet' From Ali Khameini To Mamdani Is Fake, Original Poster Said After People Took It Seriously

Did Ali Khameini, Supreme Leader of Iran, post a congratulatory message on X.com, telling New York mayoral primary election winner Zohran Mamdani "Our work has only just begun"? No, that's not true: The owner of the account where the post first appeared followed it up with a comment that reads: "In case it wasn't obvious, I made it up." Khameini's X account carries the grey checkmark of government X accounts, while the bogus post carried a white checkmark. There were zero posts on Khameini's genuine X account on June 24, the date showing on the counterfeit.

The counterfeit tweet appeared in a June 24, 2025 X post (archived here) on the Strxwmxn account under the title "Whoa"

This is what the post looked like at the time this fact check was written:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

The original poster of the screenshot of a purported X post, the Strxwmxn account, followed up with this meme in the comments on the post, "In case it wasn't obvious...I made it up." In the comments, numerous X users were asking if it were true and posted screenshots of reposts by people who believed it:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

Other evidence that it's fake includes the appearance of a white checkmark logo on the post. The official Khameini account's posts carry the grey checkmark that X places on official government accounts.

There were no posts on Khameini's account on June 25, 2025 at the time this fact check was written. The most recent was a June 23 post (archived here), carrying the grey checkmark badge in the upper left quadrant:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

Readers can find more Lead Stories fact checks about Khameini here.