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Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei used a state television reading Thursday to reject what he portrayed as outside pressure on Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, as the U.S. pursues efforts to stabilize a ceasefire it has described as shaky and to restrict Iran’s ability to sell oil. The remarks — delivered by a state television anchor and broadcast as Khamenei’s latest message since he took over as supreme leader — argued that Iran would not trade away capabilities it framed as central to national identity.
In the televised statement, Khamenei said the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf was “at the bottom of its waters,” and he said a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history. The report said Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking over after the killing of his father in the war’s opening airstrikes.
The timing of the comments came as Iran’s economy showed strain and its oil industry faced pressure from a U.S. Navy blockade that halted tankers from leaving port, according to the report. The same account linked the broader energy-market impact of the Persian Gulf situation to the need for U.S. President Donald Trump to manage pressures from rising prices and disrupted shipments.
The report said a State Department cable sent Tuesday instructed U.S. diplomats around the world — excluding those in Belarus, China, Cuba and Russia — to seek host-government support for the administration’s call for assistance in establishing a “maritime freedom construct.” The cable said the effort, led by the State Department and the Pentagon’s Central Command, would coordinate action to ensure “free and unimpeded access” to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and it described the initiative as “a fundamentally defensive response” to protect navigation rights and to hold Iran accountable for actions that impede the free flow of commerce.
At the same time, the U.S. blockade continued to operate as a pressure lever in the account, designed to prevent Iran from selling oil and depriving it of revenue. U.S. Central Command said the blockade had turned back some 44 commercial vessels as of Thursday, according to the report.
Khamenei’s statement also addressed the Strait of Hormuz directly, and the report said it appeared to signal that Iran would keep control over a waterway located in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. The report said Iran has charged some ships reportedly $2 million apiece to travel through the strait, and it noted that the world’s view has treated the passage as an international waterway open to all without tolls. It added that Gulf Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, have decried Iran’s control as akin to piracy.
The televised remarks unfolded against the backdrop of discussions about ceasefire terms and nuclear timing, with the report describing a recent Iranian proposal that would push negotiations on the country’s nuclear program to a later date. Trump, in turn, said in the report that one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons, while Iran has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful and has enriched uranium at near-weapons-grade levels of 60%, according to the account.
Pakistan said it was facilitating indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran aimed at easing tensions, while it also said it would welcome direct communication. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told a weekly news briefing that “If the two parties can engage in real-time conversations, that could ease the sticking points,” and he declined to share details of proposals from either side.
Beyond the maritime and nuclear messages, the report also described renewed repression within Iran and continued fighting beyond the ceasefire. Iran announced Thursday that it hanged a 21-year-old man, Sasan Azadvar, in connection with charges stemming from nationwide protests in January, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency. Mizan identified him as having been executed for “effectively cooperating with the enemy by attacking police officers” during the protests, while activists and rights groups said a crackdown on dissent — including a wave of executions — has intensified since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
The report also said U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday that at least 21 people had been executed since the start of the war, and it said rights groups have warned of additional people at risk of execution and that Iran often holds closed-door trials in which defendants cannot challenge accusations. On the wider regional front, the report said Israel’s military reported one of its soldiers was killed in southern Lebanon Thursday, raising troop casualties there to 17 since the Iran war started, while Israel said it struck structures used by Hezbollah and Lebanon’s health ministry said nine were killed in strikes including women and children.
Late Thursday, the foreign ministry of the United Arab Emirates announced a travel ban for its citizens covering Iran, Lebanon and Iraq and urged those already in the countries to return home, according to the report.