TEHRAN/DUBAI: Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has issued his first statement since being appointed, saying Iran will continue attacking US bases in the region and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.
He said that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed as leverage against the US and that the attacks on Middle East neighbours will continue.
Khamenei’s statement was read on state television on Thursday by a news anchor, and he did not appear on camera.
He warned that US military bases could be attacked if they remain operational in the region. “I recommend that they close those bases as soon as possible, because they must have realised by now that the claim of establishing security and peace by America was nothing more than a lie,” he said.
The Iranian leader vowed to avenge those killed in the war and claimed that Iran would “obtain compensation” from its enemy. He said that if it refuses to do so, Iran will “take from its assets” or destroy them to the same extent.
“A limited amount of this revenge has so far taken concrete form, but until it is fully achieved, this case will remain among our priorities,” he said.
On His Father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said that Iran will never retreat and will resist with “full force” and will avenge not just the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but every citizen who lost their life in the war.
Tehran also outlined the three conditions for ending Iran’s ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel. Laying out the terms, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said any resolution must recognise Iran’s legitimate rights and guarantee that the country will not face future attacks.
In a post on social media platform X, Pezeshkian also demanded compensation for damages incurred during the war.
“Talking to leaders of Russia and Pakistan, I reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to peace in the region. The only way to end this war--ignited by the Zionist regime and US--is recognising Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression,” he wrote.
The Iranian President’s offer for a truce came after Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, told state-run IRIB TV that no port, economic centre or location in the Persian Gulf would be beyond Iran’s reach if Washington attacked Iranian port facilities.
“If our ports and docks are threatened, all ports and docks in the region will be our legitimate targets,” armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi said, according to state TV.
He warned that the armed forces “will carry out a heavier operation than what we have done so far” if Iranian ports were to come under attack.
Iran’s unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above USD 100 a barrel on Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.
Iran is trying to inflict enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to halt their bombardment, which started the war on February 28.
Iran’s president said its attacks would continue until Iran gets security guarantees against another assault, indicating that even a ceasefire or US declaration of victory might not halt the conflict.
US President Donald Trump, speaking at a Wednesday event in Kentucky, promised to “finish the job,” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.”
Iran hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near Bahrain’s international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a drone and forced Iraq to halt operations at all of its oil terminals after attacking its port of Basra on the Persian Gulf.
With the latest attacks, Iran flouted a UN Security Council resolution from the previous day demanding that it halt strikes on its Gulf neighbours, with new attacks also reported in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Sirens wailed after midnight in Jerusalem as Israel intercepted incoming Iranian missiles, and loud booms were heard later in the day in another attack on the city, while Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched some 200 rockets from Lebanon at the country’s north.
Israel responded with what the military described as a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran and in Lebanon, where 11 people were killed in two early morning strikes.