“The bitter events brought about by blind terrorism in France have once again moved me to speak to you young people,” wrote Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his second letter addressed to the “youth of the Western countries.” Khamenei’s accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms posted excerpts of the Nov. 29 letter with the hashtag #CommonWorry along with posters and banners in what appears to be a major campaign by his media team. Khamenei published his first such letter on his website in January.
“Today, the people of the East and the West are sharing common worries,” a source close to the supreme leader’s office in Tehran told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “This is a new way of communicating with the other side, to break all artificial boundaries and the deadlock caused by those who don’t want this world to live together in peace and with respect.”