Mark Zuckerberg - who was raised as Jewish but is now atheist - is reportedly described by the state as an "American Zionist".

Iran has reportedly banned messaging app WhatsApp because it is owned by Facebook, founded by "Zionist" entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Iran's censor has decided to ban the app, which was recently purchased by the social networking giant for $19bn (£11.3bn).

Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s Committee on Internet Crimes, reportedly said: "The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist."

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004, and is currently the company's chief executive.

President Rouhani says he is opposed to any ban
He was raised as Jewish by his family in New York, but identifies as an atheist.

News reports from Israel and the US cited Iran's state news agency IRNA for the story.

However, Iran's president Hassan Rouhani later tweeted that the Government was "fully opposed to filtering of WhatsApp".

Some reports have suggested the conflicting statements point to a dispute within the Government over the ban.

Twitter and Facebook have been banned in Iran since 2009, when protests against former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gained momentum thanks to social media.