Tehran: If Donald Trump has been sending mixed signals about when the United States will end the war with Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is clear on what he wants.
In his first public remarks since taking charge as Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba took a hardline stance on the United States and the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in the Gulf region, which is set to complete two weeks.
“All US bases should be immediately closed in the region, otherwise they will be attacked,” Mojtaba said in a statement delivered through Iranian state television and read by a presenter.
Mojtaba, reportedly injured in the war, has not appeared in public since he was appointed as the successor of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes in Tehran on February 28.
Besides warning that American military installations across the region will remain potential targets unless they are shut down, Mojtaba underlined Iran’s position on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important global energy routes which links Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
The strategically important waterway, which sees a significant share of global oil shipments pass through it, has become a focal point in the ongoing crisis.
Mojtaba, in remarks translated by BBC Persian and broadcast on state television, said that Iran should continue using the strategic ‘choke point’ as leverage in the conflict.
He made it clear the “lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz” should still be used by Iran.
However, he also stressed that Iran’s policy toward neighbouring countries remains cooperative. Mojtaba reiterated his country’s stated stand that Iran supports friendly relations with regional states but warned them against hosting American forces.
Referring to the attack on a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, killing at least 168 people including 110 children, Mojtaba said his country won’t hesitate to retaliate for the killing of Iranian civilians.
“We will not hesitate to avenge the blood of Iranians,” Mojtaba said.
