Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says Strait of Hormuz must remain closed in first order: State TV

Iranian media released Thursday the first public statement by the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, since stepping down. appointment after his father and his predecessor The assassination of Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, in the first US-Israeli attack on Iran.

His statement was read by a presenter on Iranian state television accompanied by a photo of Khamenei, but no audio or video of the new leader. The way the Iranian regime issued the statement did little to dispel rumors that he was actually incapacitated, perhaps even unconscious, in the same strike that killed his father and mother.

An Iranian official said Wednesday that the new supreme leader was wounded in the attack, but “alive and well,” although he has not been seen since the war began.

In a statement read by the presenter on Thursday, written by Khamanei, he says he heard about his appointment on state TV and everyone in Iran, and that it will be difficult to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“I had the opportunity to visit [the former Supreme Leader’s] body after his death. What I saw was a mountain of strength, I heard that his healthy hand was crushed by a fist,” he said.

The statement continued that when Khamenei was not appointed as the new supreme leader, days after his father’s assassination, “it was you, the people, who led the country and confirmed its authority.”

He expressed “sincere gratitude to our brave heroes” and added that “the lever to block the Strait of Hormuz must definitely continue to be used” as a tool in the ongoing war with the US and Israel.

“The research has been done by opening other fields where the enemy has less information and will be more vulnerable to them, and their operation will be done if the war situation continues and is based on the preservation of interests,” he said.

He also thanked the “heroes of the Resistance Front,” describing them as “best friends of the Islamic Republic” to whom he seems to be referring. Iran’s network of armed proxy groups across the Middle East.

“Courageous and loyal Yemen did not stop protecting the oppressed people of Gaza, and the dedicated Hezbollah helped the Islamic Republic despite all the obstacles, and the Iraqi resistance took the same courageous step,” the statement said.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have so far not intervened on Tehran’s behalf since the US and Israel launched their offensive. Hezbollah has delivered weapons to Israel and possibly other targets and has been the focus of the Israeli military’s widespread and escalating attacks in Lebanon this week.

For the Iranians who lost their loved ones, or who were injured or whose businesses were damaged in the US-Israeli strikes, Khamenei expressed his sympathy and noted that he also lost, in addition to his father, wife, sister and other relatives.

The message also urged the Iranian people who lost their loved ones to be patient and have faith in God’s promise, adding that Iran “will not avoid avenging the blood of your martyrs. The revenge we intend is not only related to the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution; rather, every member of the nation who was martyred by the enemy is an independent matter of revenge.”

“We will receive compensation from the enemy, and if they refuse, we will take as much of their property as we decide, and if that is not possible, we will destroy the same amount of their property,” he said.

The statement went on to say that Iran has always been and is “willing to have warm and constructive relations with all” of its regional neighbors, but said that “the enemy has been establishing military and financial bases in some of these countries for years to ensure its dominance in the region,” which appears to justify Iran’s missile and drone attacks on its Gulf neighbors over the past 13 days.

Talking about why Iran is targeting other Gulf countries, the statement said “some military bases were used” in the ongoing attack on US-Israel, “and naturally, as we clearly warned, we just attacked those bases without attacking those countries. From now on, we will definitely continue to do so, although we still believe in the need for friendship between us and our neighbors. people. I recommend that they close those bases as soon as possible; because they must have realized now that the claim to establish security and the peace of America was just a lie.”