Iran’s new leader makes statement, vows to block Strait of Hormuz

Saturday, 14 March 2026 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Mojtaba Khamenei

Iran will continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest oil shipping channel, according to a statement attributed to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

His message was broadcast on Iranian state TV, but Khamenei did not appear in person. His message was instead read out by a newsreader.

Iran would “avenge the blood” of Iranians killed in the war with the US and Israel, Khamenei said in the statement, which also warned neighbouring countries to stop hosting US bases.

He was named supreme leader on 8 March after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war.

Mojtaba Khamenei lost his wife and a son in the US-Israeli strike on the supreme leader’s compound that killed his father. His mother was also reportedly killed in the attack, though one Iranian outlet has since said she is alive.

It has been reported by the Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed Iranian official, that Khamenei was “lightly injured”, but there have been no details.

He has not been seen in public and there have been no photographs or videos of him since becoming supreme leader.

Iran’s state TV news channel has referred to him as a “veteran of the Ramadan war”, without any further confirmation on whether he was injured.

In the first public message attributed to him, Khamenei said Iran should use the “lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz” as the channel is an area where “the enemy is highly vulnerable”. (BBC)