Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, used a Persian Gulf Day address read on state television Thursday to declare that Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities would not be traded away and that Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz was making the Gulf more secure for all its littoral states. The statement, the first public remarks since Khamenei succeeded his father — who was killed in the opening airstrikes of the U.S.-led war with Iran — also called the United States the “Great Satan” and said the only place Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters.”
“Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities — from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities — as national,” Khamenei said, according to the state television broadcast.
The defiant rhetoric came as global oil markets were jolted by the twin disruption of the U.S. Navy’s blockade on Iranian tankers and Iran’s continued chokehold on the strait. Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded as high as $126 a barrel Thursday, as U.S. Central Command said its blockade had turned back 44 commercial vessels since the operation began. The blockade aims to prevent Iran from selling oil, depriving it of revenue and potentially forcing it to shut down production for lack of storage.
Facing that pressure, the Trump administration has floated a new initiative to reopen the strait without lifting the economic vise on Iran. A State Department cable sent Tuesday and obtained by the AP instructs American diplomats in most countries — excluding Belarus, China, Cuba and Russia — to seek host governments’ support for a “maritime freedom construct” that would ensure free passage through the waterway. The cable described the plan as “a fundamentally defensive response to protect the rights of all countries to navigate international waters freely and safely and to hold Iran accountable for its aggressive and illegal actions.”
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. would continue its blockade on Iranian ports while coordinating with allies to impose higher costs on Iran’s attempts to subvert shipping. The Strait of Hormuz sits in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman; Iran has been charging some ships reportedly $2 million apiece for transit. Gulf Arab nations, led by the United Arab Emirates, have decried the practice as piracy.
In parallel, President Trump has opened a new front in the tensions with European allies, questioning the U.S. troop presence in nations that have sparred with Washington over the use of bases for Iran-related operations. Asked Thursday whether he would consider pulling forces out of Italy and Spain, Trump replied, “Why shouldn’t I. Italy has not been of any help to us, and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible.” The remarks came a day after the administration said it was reviewing a possible reduction of the U.S. troop presence in Germany.
Meanwhile, a crackdown on dissent in Iran intensified. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported Thursday that a 21-year-old man, Sasan Azadvar, from Isfahan, was hanged on charges of “effectively cooperating with the enemy by attacking police officers” during the nationwide protests that erupted in January. U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said Wednesday that at least 21 people have been executed since the war began, amid what rights groups describe as closed-door trials in which defendants cannot challenge accusations.
In southern Lebanon, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to fray. Hezbollah claimed further attacks on Israeli troops, and the Israeli military said one soldier was killed in battle Thursday, raising the toll to 17 since the Iran war started. Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel; the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah military structures. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported nine killed in the strikes, including women and children. Late Thursday, the United Arab Emirates announced a travel ban for its citizens to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, and urged those already in those countries to return home.