Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's message was del
ivered in a written statement read on Iranian state television, as he has since he took over after the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his 86-year-old father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“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 assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country’s waters, land and airspace,” Khamenei said.
His remarks come as Iran's oil industry is being squeezed by a US Navy blockade halting its oil tankers from getting out to sea. But the world economy is also under pressure as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil is transported. On Thursday, the global benchmark for oil, Brent crude, traded as high as $126 a barrel.
He said the only place Americans belong in the Arabian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters,” as the Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran’s chokehold, AP reported.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Arabian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei said in the statement.
“We and our neighbors across the waters of the Arabian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters.”
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law and "doomed to fail," AFP reported
He warned in a statement that the blockade that began on April 13 would be "a disruption to lasting stability" in the Gulf.
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as an influential figure, said control of Hormuz would allow Tehran to "provide itself and its neighbours with the precious blessing of a future free from American presence and interference".
The statements follow reports the US is pressing ahead with plans for an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, as oil prices surge on fears of lengthy disruptions to global fuel supplies.
In a sign the US was also envisaging a scenario where hostilities cease, the State Department cable invited partner countries to join a new coalition called Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC) to enable ships to navigate the strait.
"The MFC constitutes a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict maritime security architecture for the Middle East," said the cable, which was due to be delivered orally to partner nations by May 1.
France, Britain and other countries have held talks on contributing to such a coalition but said they were only willing to help open the Strait when the conflict ends.