Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned on Tuesday that the West Asia and Gulf region will no longer serve as a “shield” for American military bases, escalating rhetoric as regional security concerns mount. The warning came as the annual Hajj pilgrimage began, a moment Khamenei used to address millions of Muslims and press his message to both domestic and regional audiences, ANI reported.
In a post on X, Mojtaba Khamenei said: “The hand of time does not turn back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases. America will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region.” His comments came as security tensions across the Gulf and wider West Asia continued to shift.
Regional Footprint
Al Jazeera, citing the Council on Foreign Relations, has previously reported that the United States maintains a broad network of military sites — both permanent and temporary — across at least 19 locations in the region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Khamenei used his platform to broaden the criticism, targeting the United States and Israel in a series of posts on X.
He urged
pilgrims to unite and pray for “the liberation of Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the alleviation of the great hardships afflicting Muslims, and the attainment of ultimate victory against global arrogance.” He also argued that Islamic countries and regional nations “possess numerous shared capacities and interests,” which he said would shape “the new order and the future geometry of the region and the world.”
Maritime Tensions & Diplomacy
As Washington and Tehran engage in talks toward a possible agreement, US officials have voiced concern over freedom of navigation in a strategically vital waterway. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday sharply criticised activity in the Strait of Hormuz, calling for unrestricted maritime passage and denouncing any effort to impose fees or controls.
Rubio said that the Strait of Hormuz should be “open without tolls” and that “no country in the world is accepting of a tolling system except Iran.” He added: “The strait needs to be open without tolls. What is happening there is unlawful, illegal, unsustainable and unacceptable. No country in the world is accepting of a tolling system except Iran.”
Prospects For Deal
On the prospects of a diplomatic agreement with Iran, Rubio commented on recent high-level talks, saying: “The President (Donald Trump) had a historic call with a number of leaders from the region, and I think there is a strong alignment and agreement on what a preliminary draft should look like. It will take a couple of days to settle on…Either there is going to be a good deal, or there isn’t going to be one.”