Iran supreme leader issues defiant statement on strait of Hormuz
Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has issued a defiant statement asserting greater Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz and rejecting any role for the United States in the Persian Gulf, in the context of the ongoing regional war with the US‑Israeli‑backed coalition.
Khamenei frames the current phase as a “new chapter” in the management of the Strait, arguing that months of large‑scale US‑led military operations have ended in “humiliating failure” for Washington and that Iran now dominates the Gulf maritime order. He pledges that Tehran will “eliminate the enemy’s abuses of the waterway,” protect its nuclear and missile programs, and generally “secure the Gulf region” under Iranian‑led stewardship.
The message reiterates Iran’s position that the Strait should remain largely closed or tightly controlled as leverage against the US and its allies, consistent with earlier vows to keep the chokepoint blocked for months as a tool of pressure. Khamenei also warns that American military bases across the Middle East must shut down or face continued attacks, further intertwining the Strait’s security with the broader confrontation over US force posture in the region.
By tying the Strait’s future to the expulsion of US forces and the “development, comfort, and prosperity” of Gulf states without America, Khamenei is attempting to portray Iran as the region’s security guarantor, not just a revisionist power. For global markets, the speech reinforces the risk of prolonged disruption to oil flows through the Strait, which still handles roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil trade, keeping energy‑price volatility high.
