Iran will not close the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian ambassador to the UN said on Thursday (12), hours after the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, reportedly said that the waterway would remain closed as a “tool of pressure”.
“We will not close the Strait of Hormuz, but it is our intrinsic right to preserve peace and security in this waterway,” Amir Saeid Iravani told journalists at the UN.
He insisted that Iran remains committed to freedom of navigation and blamed the US for the current situation in the strait.
“The current situation in the region, including in the Strait of Hormuz, is not the result of Iran’s legitimate exercise of its right to self-defense. On the contrary, it is a direct consequence of the destabilizing actions of the United States, which launched aggression against Iran and undermined regional security,” he added.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, of Iran said this Thursday, in statements published by the Mehr news agency that many .
“After recent events, in general we cannot return to the conditions before February 28th (start of the war in the Middle East), as we understand the importance of security in the Strait of Hormuz, and the same has been said by others,” the spokesperson added.
Supreme leader’s statement
Earlier, in his first statement since being named Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei said it was a form of pressure against Iran.
The message was read by a presenter on Iranian state television. He has not been seen since the start of the war and, according to sources, was injured during the attacks.
Iran’s ambassador to Cyprus, Alireza Salarian, told The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday (11) that Khamenei was injured in the same airstrike that killed his father, the then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with five other family members.
The statement also calls for unity among the people and warns that all American bases in the region must be closed or they will be attacked.
At another point, Mojtaba Khamenei stated that he has a good relationship with neighboring countries and that he is only carrying out attacks against American bases.
“We have had a good relationship with all these 15 neighboring countries… we have only attacked these military bases and we will continue, we will have to continue and we will continue to do so,” he commented.
Furthermore, the supreme leader stated that Iran will demand compensation from the United States and Israel due to the attacks.
“We will demand compensation from the enemy. If we do not get compensation, we will destroy their properties as much as they destroyed ours,” Khamenei said in a speech read by a presenter on state television.
