Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Urges Closure of Strait of Hormuz

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Thursday that the country’s forces should keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed, according to a statement broadcast on Iranian state television.

“The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Khamenei said in remarks read by a news anchor on state TV. The waterway is one of the world’s most critical shipping routes, through which vast quantities of global oil and gas exports pass.

Khamenei also called for action against U.S. military facilities in the region, saying they should be shut down as soon as possible.

“I recommend that they close those bases as soon as possible, because they must have realized by now that the claim of establishing security and peace by America was nothing more than a lie,” he said in the statement.

In his remarks, Khamenei expressed appreciation for groups aligned with Iran across the Middle East.

“I also express my sincere gratitude to the fighters of the ‘Resistance Front’,” he said, referring to allied groups including the Houthis in Yemen, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and affiliated factions in Iraq.

Mojtaba Khamenei's remarks came after a widening war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran that began on Feb. 28, when U.S. and Israeli forces launched a large-scale joint military campaign dubbed Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion.

As of March 12, the conflict has entered its 13th day, with mounting casualties and increasing regional tensions.

The initial strikes on Feb. 28 killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, along with several senior military and security officials in Tehran. On March 8, his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named the country’s new Supreme Leader.