diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/api.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/api.py
index 0c98248874..d0e88f0092 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/api.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ from common.djangoapps.student.roles import (
 from lms.djangoapps.course_api.blocks.api import get_blocks
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.courses import get_course_with_access
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.exceptions import CourseAccessRedirect
-from lms.djangoapps.discussion.toggles import ENABLE_DISCUSSIONS_MFE
+from lms.djangoapps.discussion.toggles import ENABLE_DISCUSSIONS_MFE, ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.views import is_privileged_user
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.discussions.models import (
     DiscussionsConfiguration,
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ def get_course(request, course_key, check_tab=True):
             'site_key': settings.RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY,
         },
         "is_email_verified": request.user.is_active,
-        "only_verified_users_can_post": False,
+        "only_verified_users_can_post": ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST.is_enabled(course_key),
     }
 
 
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
index 2f457db5fe..dce16d0d32 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from pytz import UTC
 from rest_framework import status
 from rest_framework.test import APIClient, APITestCase
 
-from lms.djangoapps.discussion.toggles import ENABLE_DISCUSSIONS_MFE
+from lms.djangoapps.discussion.toggles import ENABLE_DISCUSSIONS_MFE, ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.rest_api.utils import get_usernames_from_search_string
 from xmodule.modulestore import ModuleStoreEnum
 from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
@@ -1064,6 +1064,7 @@ class CourseTopicsViewV3Test(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, CommentsServiceMockMixi
         assert vertical_keys == expected_non_courseware_keys
 
 
+@ddt.ddt
 @httpretty.activate
 @disable_signal(api, 'thread_created')
 @mock.patch.dict("django.conf.settings.FEATURES", {"ENABLE_DISCUSSION_SERVICE": True})
@@ -1139,6 +1140,41 @@ class ThreadViewSetCreateTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
         response_data = json.loads(response.content.decode('utf-8'))
         assert response_data == expected_response_data
 
+    @ddt.data(
+        (False, False, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+        (False, True, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST),
+        (True, False, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+        (True, True, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+    )
+    @ddt.unpack
+    def test_creation_for_non_verified_user(self, email_verified, only_verified_user_can_post, response_status):
+        """
+        Tests posts cannot be created if ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST is enabled and user email is unverified.
+        """
+        with override_waffle_flag(ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST, only_verified_user_can_post):
+            self.user.is_active = email_verified
+            self.user.save()
+            self.register_get_user_response(self.user)
+            cs_thread = make_minimal_cs_thread({
+                "id": "test_thread",
+                "username": self.user.username,
+                "read": True,
+            })
+            self.register_post_thread_response(cs_thread)
+            request_data = {
+                "course_id": str(self.course.id),
+                "topic_id": "test_topic",
+                "type": "discussion",
+                "title": "Test Title",
+                "raw_body": "# Test \n This is a very long body but will not be truncated for the preview.",
+            }
+            response = self.client.post(
+                self.url,
+                json.dumps(request_data),
+                content_type="application/json"
+            )
+            assert response.status_code == response_status
+
 
 @httpretty.activate
 @disable_signal(api, 'thread_deleted')
@@ -2019,6 +2055,7 @@ class CommentViewSetDeleteTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
         assert response.status_code == 404
 
 
+@ddt.ddt
 @httpretty.activate
 @disable_signal(api, 'comment_created')
 @mock.patch.dict("django.conf.settings.FEATURES", {"ENABLE_DISCUSSION_SERVICE": True})
@@ -2134,6 +2171,69 @@ class CommentViewSetCreateTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
         )
         assert response.status_code == 403
 
+    @ddt.data(
+        (False, False, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+        (False, True, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST),
+        (True, False, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+        (True, True, status.HTTP_200_OK),
+    )
+    @ddt.unpack
+    def test_creation_for_non_verified_user(self, email_verified, only_verified_user_can_post, response_status):
+        """
+        Tests comments/replies cannot be created if ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST is enabled and
+        user email is unverified.
+        """
+        with override_waffle_flag(ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST, only_verified_user_can_post):
+            self.user.is_active = email_verified
+            self.user.save()
+            self.register_get_user_response(self.user)
+            self.register_thread()
+            self.register_comment()
+            request_data = {
+                "thread_id": "test_thread",
+                "raw_body": "Test body",
+            }
+            expected_response_data = {
+                "id": "test_comment",
+                "thread_id": "test_thread",
+                "parent_id": None,
+                "author": self.user.username,
+                "author_label": None,
+                "created_at": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                "updated_at": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                "raw_body": "Test body",
+                "rendered_body": "<p>Test body</p>",
+                "endorsed": False,
+                "endorsed_by": None,
+                "endorsed_by_label": None,
+                "endorsed_at": None,
+                "abuse_flagged": False,
+                "abuse_flagged_any_user": None,
+                "voted": False,
+                "vote_count": 0,
+                "children": [],
+                "editable_fields": ["abuse_flagged", "anonymous", "raw_body"],
+                "child_count": 0,
+                "can_delete": True,
+                "anonymous": False,
+                "anonymous_to_peers": False,
+                "last_edit": None,
+                "edit_by_label": None,
+                "profile_image": {
+                    "has_image": False,
+                    "image_url_full": "http://testserver/static/default_500.png",
+                    "image_url_large": "http://testserver/static/default_120.png",
+                    "image_url_medium": "http://testserver/static/default_50.png",
+                    "image_url_small": "http://testserver/static/default_30.png",
+                },
+            }
+            response = self.client.post(
+                self.url,
+                json.dumps(request_data),
+                content_type="application/json"
+            )
+            assert response.status_code == response_status
+
 
 @httpretty.activate
 @mock.patch.dict("django.conf.settings.FEATURES", {"ENABLE_DISCUSSION_SERVICE": True})
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/views.py
index 3c5e920418..c5c20cde0f 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/views.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from lms.djangoapps.course_api.blocks.api import get_blocks
 from lms.djangoapps.course_goals.models import UserActivity
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.rest_api.permissions import IsAllowedToBulkDelete
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.rest_api.tasks import delete_course_post_for_user
+from lms.djangoapps.discussion.toggles import ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.django_comment_client import settings as cc_settings
 from lms.djangoapps.discussion.django_comment_client.utils import get_group_id_for_comments_service
 from lms.djangoapps.instructor.access import update_forum_role
@@ -671,13 +672,19 @@ class ThreadViewSet(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ViewSet):
         """
         if not request.data.get("course_id"):
             raise ValidationError({"course_id": ["This field is required."]})
-        if is_captcha_enabled(CourseKey.from_string(request.data.get("course_id"))):
+        course_key_str = request.data.get("course_id")
+        course_key = CourseKey.from_string(course_key_str)
+        if is_captcha_enabled(course_key):
             captcha_token = request.data.get('captcha_token')
             if not captcha_token:
                 raise ValidationError({'captcha_token': 'This field is required.'})
 
             if not verify_recaptcha_token(captcha_token):
                 return Response({'error': 'CAPTCHA verification failed.'}, status=400)
+
+        if ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST.is_enabled(course_key) and not request.user.is_active:
+            raise ValidationError({"detail": "Only verified users can post in discussions."})
+
         data = request.data.copy()
         data.pop('captcha_token', None)
         return Response(create_thread(request, data))
@@ -1037,14 +1044,20 @@ class CommentViewSet(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ViewSet):
         """
         if not request.data.get("thread_id"):
             raise ValidationError({"thread_id": ["This field is required."]})
-        course_id = get_course_id_from_thread_id(request.data["thread_id"])
-        if is_captcha_enabled(CourseKey.from_string(course_id)):
+        course_key_str = get_course_id_from_thread_id(request.data["thread_id"])
+        course_key = CourseKey.from_string(course_key_str)
+
+        if is_captcha_enabled(course_key):
             captcha_token = request.data.get('captcha_token')
             if not captcha_token:
                 raise ValidationError({'captcha_token': 'This field is required.'})
 
             if not verify_recaptcha_token(captcha_token):
                 return Response({'error': 'CAPTCHA verification failed.'}, status=400)
+
+        if ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST.is_enabled(course_key) and not request.user.is_active:
+            raise ValidationError({"detail": "Only verified users can post in discussions."})
+
         data = request.data.copy()
         data.pop('captcha_token', None)
         return Response(create_comment(request, data))
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/toggles.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/toggles.py
index a01a3b6a0a..6965f462f9 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/toggles.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/toggles.py
@@ -15,3 +15,15 @@ from openedx.core.djangoapps.waffle_utils import CourseWaffleFlag
 ENABLE_DISCUSSIONS_MFE = CourseWaffleFlag(
     f"{WAFFLE_FLAG_NAMESPACE}.enable_discussions_mfe", __name__
 )
+
+
+# .. toggle_name: discussions.only_verified_users_can_post
+# .. toggle_implementation: CourseWaffleFlag
+# .. toggle_default: False
+# .. toggle_description: Waffle flag to allow only verified users to post in discussions
+# .. toggle_use_cases: temporary, open_edx
+# .. toggle_creation_date: 2025-22-07
+# .. toggle_target_removal_date: 2026-04-01
+ONLY_VERIFIED_USERS_CAN_POST = CourseWaffleFlag(
+    f"{WAFFLE_FLAG_NAMESPACE}.only_verified_users_can_post", __name__
+)