The new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, has broken his silence for the first time since he succeeded his slain father – saying in a message read on State television that the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed.
In response, the US treasury secretary said that the US Navy will be escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, providing the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean – serving as one of the world’s most strategically important choke points, through which 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass.
Iran previously cautioned that it will “not allow even a single litre of oil” intended for the US, Israel and their international allies to make its way through the Persian Gulf.
On Wednesday, Iran said that the world should prepare itself for oil at $200 per barrel, warning that any oil tanker bound for the US, Israel and its allies was a target:
The strait is controlled by Iran, which is believed to be responsible for striking two ships in the Persian Gulf in the last 24 hours. In the message a news anchor read on State television, Khamenei pledged that Iran will continue its attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbours.
Doubts over Khamenei’s health – and whether he is alive at all – have continued to circulate after the attack on his father’s compound on the first day of the US-Israeli attacks. Khamenei, 56, shares the same hard-line views as his father, and is described as being close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The country’s new supreme leader also lost his wife and a son in the US-Israeli strike that killed his father.
“There must be no harm to the unity of the nation among the individuals and groups of the nation which usually becomes specially evident in times of hardship,” the message said.
He insisted that the masses wanted Iran to continue on its path and that “certainly the leverage of blocking the strait of Hormuz must continue to be used. Studies have been made about opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and will be severely vulnerable.”
The country’s new supreme leader urged the Gulf states to “clarify their stance towards the aggressors of our dear homeland and the killers of our people. I recommend that they close those bases as soon as possible, because by now they must have realised that America’s claim of establishing security and peace was nothing but a lie.”
Speaking to Sky News, however, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “My belief is that as soon as it is militarily possible, the US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through.”
He added: “There are, in fact, tankers coming through now, Iranian tankers, I believe some Chinese flag tankers have come through. So we know that they have not mined the straits.”
IRAN WAR HAS CAUSED GLOBAL OIL MARKET’S ‘LARGEST DISRUPTION IN HISTORY’
It comes after three more oil tankers were attacked overnight, with Iran effectively stopping supplies through the region. On Thursday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the Iran war has caused “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” That is despite the emergency release of a record volume of oil stocks; dozens of countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels from their reserves. However, it has been described as merely a “stop-gap measure” by the IEA.
The Paris-based agency said that the co-ordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil stocks by its member nations on Wednesday was an unprecedented move to combat widespread disruption to oil supplies across the Middle-East.
The monthly oil market report, ‘Dire Straits’ said: “The co-ordinated emergency stock release provides a significant and welcome buffer, but in the absence of a swift resolution to the conflict, it remains a stop-gap measure.”
The IEA commented: “The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. With crude and oil product flows through the Strait of Hormuz plunging from around 20 million barrels per day before the war to a trickle currently, limited capacity available to bypass the crucial waterway, and storage filling up, Gulf countries have cut total oil production by at least 10 million barrels per day. In the absence of a rapid resumption of shipping flows, supply losses are set to increase.”
TRUMP: ‘I MEAN, FOR THEM, IT’S A WAR’
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has continued to try and convince voters and markets that the military campaign will be brief. However, speaking to Fox News, he conceded that the “excursion” could be perceived as a war: “Well, it’s both. It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war, and … I mean for them, it’s a war.”
The military assault has cost $11.3 billion in its first six days alone, as concerns have grown about the messages given by Trump related to the timeline. While he told reporters on Monday that the “excursion” was “very complete,” he told supporters in Kentucky on Wednesday: “We don’t want to leave early do we? We want to finish the job.”
US REFUELLING PLANE CRASHES IN MIDDLE EAST
In a statement put out today by The White House on X, the administration said: “America’s objectives WILL be met,” along with a graphic of Mr Trump with the text: “Unwavering American Dominance.”
On Thursday night, reports broke that a US refuelling plane had crashed in the Middle East. It was announced by the US Central Command, which said it was aware of the loss of a US KC-135 refuelling aircraft.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident,” the force said, adding:
“One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
NUMBERS OF DISPLACED, DEAD AND INJURED
The Pentagon has said that about 140 U.S. troops have been injured in the Iran war so far, eight severely. It confirmed on Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in conflict with Iran.
The truth about the true death toll in Iran remains unclear, with fears for more civilian deaths. The killing of a reported 168 people, primarily schoolgirls, in the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab in Iran has become a political flashpoint. Responsibility for the attack has been disputed, with Trump denying the US was responsible, saying on airforce one: “We think it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions.”
However, a BBC investigation on Monday claimed that multiple US Tomahawk missiles fired and landed close to the school, reportedly hitting the school itself, as well as a medical clinic reportedly belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us,” Trump said in response to the investigation.
The Israeli military has carried out air strikes across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, after Hezbollah launched about 200 rockets into northern Israel. Lebanon has been engulfed in the war, with a reported 680 people, at least 98 of them children, having been killed in the country over the past week. Authorities say 800,000 people have fled due to Israeli evacuation orders and strikes.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said up to 3.2 million Iranians have been temporarily displaced in Iran so far.
TRUMP: WAR IN IRAN SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED UNDER ANOTHER ADMINISTRATION
Speaking during a Women’s History Month event at the White House on Thursday, US President Trump said the war in Iran should have taken place in the 47-year period since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
“On another front, an entirely different front, the situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly. It’s doing very well. Our military is unsurpassed,” he told reporters.
“There’s never been anything like it, nobody’s ever seen anything like it, and we’re doing what has to be done. It should have been done during a 47-year period. It could have been done by a lot of different people – they chose not to do it.
“But they [Iran] really are a nation of terror and hate and they’re paying a big price right now.”