Picture this: Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei joins Instagram

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, has now begun using the photo-sharing application Instagram.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, having already amassed nearly five thousand twitter followers, has now begun using the photo-sharing application Instagram, according to media reports.

The man who has been Iran’s spiritual guide since 1989 currently has 757 followers and has uploaded five images using a range of filters that are available on the app.

The images are mainly of the Ayatollah attending prayer services and meetings. In one photograph the supreme leader is seen in the foreground whilst behind him, dimmed by the Instagram filter, is Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, seen in profile talking with Khamenei's security detail, Ahmad Vahid Dastjerdi, according to The Atlantic.

Iran was reported last year to be working on establishing an internal Iranian network, and said that it intended to sever the country from the World Wide Web. However in April, Iranian officials denied the report.

Three years ago, the country’s authorities interrupted internet connectivity after Iranians used social media to coordinate mass demonstrations and also to inform the world about the regime's crackdown on pro-reform protests after foreign media was expelled from the country.