Facebook to remove pro-Soleimani posts on Insta: Report

Facebook Inc. is taking down Instagram posts that express support for Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike, CNN reported.

Pictures run by or on behalf of sanctioned people and organizations, as well as posts that commend or support their actions will be removed because the social-media company operates under U.S. laws, a Facebook spokesman said in a statement to the news agency.

The Iranian government has protested by calling for legal action against Facebook’s photo-sharing app, Instagram, one of few western social-media platforms not blocked in the country. A government website also created a portal for users to submit examples of removed posts, Iranian state media reported, according to CNN.

Instagram shut down Soleimani’s personal account last April after the U.S. designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards a foreign terrorist organization.

Facebook operates under US sanctions laws, “including those related to the US government’s designation of the IRGC and its leadership,” the Facebook spokesman said, according to the report.