Iran's new supreme leader says US bases in Gulf must close or will be attacked
In his first statement since becoming Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said that all US bases must be immediately closed in the region or they will be attacked.
The new leader, the son of slain leader Ali Khamenei, has not been seen since the war began. His statement was read aloud by a presenter on IRIB, Iran's state broadcaster.
Khamenei said that Tehran believes in friendship with neighbouring countries, but that it will continue to target US bases.
"Iran, without seeking to establish dominance in the region, is fully prepared for unity and warm relations with its neighbours," he said.
"The countries of the region must close down the US military bases; otherwise, we will be forced to attack them again."
He also said that the "lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz" would continue to be used.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime channel between the Musandam peninsula in Oman and Iran. It is described as the most significant oil chokepoint in the world, with around a fifth of global oil output passing through it, and a third of global liquified natural gas (LNG).
'The countries of the region must close down the US military bases; otherwise, we will be forced to attack them again'
- Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran has effectively closed it for over a week, threatening to attack any tanker which attempts to cross it. Several tankers have been struck in recent days.
"Other fronts - in which the enemy has little experience and whose activation will be opened if the war situation continues and based on considerations of interests," Khamenei said.
He said that resistance in Yemen, referring to Ansar Allah (Houthis), "will also do the job", and that armed groups in Iraq "want to help" Iran.
As yet, the Houthis have not intervened in the conflict.
"I would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack," Khamenei added.
He said Iranians wounded during the conflict would receive free treatment and some form of financial compensation. He implied that this would be paid through reparations.
"We will take war reparations from the enemy for the war it imposed on us," he said. "If the enemy refuses, we will seize as much of its assets as we deem appropriate; and if that is not possible, we will destroy an equivalent amount of its property".
On 28 February, US and Israeli air strikes killed Khamenei's father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several family members, including the new leader's wife Zahra Adel, his mother Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, a son and a sister.
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?
Khamenei was born in 1969 in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, one of the country's most important religious centres.
He is the second son of the late ayatollah, and the grandson of the Shia scholar Sayyed Javad Khamenei.
Raised during the turbulent years of the Islamic Revolution, Mojtaba witnessed his father’s rise from a revolutionary figure to president and later supreme leader.
He later married Zahra Haddad-Adel, the daughter of prominent conservative politician and former parliament speaker, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel.
Zahra Haddad-Adel was among those killed in the strike that targeted the Khamenei family residence in Tehran.
Like many senior figures in Iran’s religious establishment, Mojtaba pursued theological studies in the city of Qom, the country’s leading centre for Shia scholarship.
There he studied Islamic jurisprudence and theology under several prominent scholars, including Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani and Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.
Analysts say Mojtaba spent much of his career teaching in Qom’s seminaries, including advanced jurisprudence courses known as dars-e kharej, the highest level of seminary study.
Despite his long presence in religious circles, he has never held a formal government post or served in elected office.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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