Iran‘s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Monday the US would be forced to leave the Middle East after suffering ‘painful blows’, according to a statement carried by state television.
Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the Middle East war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting.
‘Today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they (the enemies) do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea,’ Khamenei said without explicitly mentioning the United States.
‘Whenever they have braved this risk, they have only brought harm upon themselves. It will not be long before the Arabian Sea, too, would rid itself of their presence,’ he added.
The Arabian Sea, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula toward India in the east, is a vital maritime corridor that leads to Iran’s coasts and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and the United States have been vying for control over Hormuz since the Middle East war started with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Before the war began, the strategic shipping route carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
Mojtaba was named Iran’s new supreme leader on March 8, a week after joint US-Israeli airstrikes killed his father Ali Khamenei on February 28
Iran and the United States have been vying for control over Hormuz since the Middle East war started
But Tehran imposed a blockade on Hormuz after the war started, prompting Washington to respond with its own blockade on Iranian ports.
The Supreme Leader’s statement comes as speculation continues to grow regarding his whereabouts and health status.
Mojtaba was named Iran’s new supreme leader on March 8, a week after joint US-Israeli airstrikes killed his father Ali Khamenei on February 28.
He was inside the compound in Tehran when it was struck. Sources close to Mojtaba’s inner circle later said that the blast left his face disfigured and caused a serious injury to one or both of his legs.
However, since his accession to leader was announced on state television months ago, no one has seen or heard from the ruling Ayatollah, including his ministers.
His invisibility has fed rumours among the ‘highest levels of the regime’ that he is in an extremely critical condition and his death is imminent.
A source close to the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet, while confirming that no cabinet meetings had been held with Mojtaba so far, described his physical condition as very poor.
‘We would not be surprised if we heard news of his martyrdom soon,’ they said.
Meanwhile, Qatari mediators are likely to hold separate talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in New York and with the US side on Monday or Tuesday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, in a fresh push to end the war.
The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said the official.
Araqchi remains in New York after attending the General Assembly. It was not immediately clear who would represent the US side in the talks with mediators.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency later confirmed that Araqchi would meet the mediators in the US on Monday morning, New York time.
The two sides will ‘examine the latest proposals and views regarding the current situation’, ISNA added.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media later on Monday that Araqchi’s stay in New York had not been extended and that the foreign minister would return to Tehran according to his original schedule. Baghaei did not comment on the talks with mediators.
Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Smoke rises after a US airstrike in Tehran
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, addresses the media at a press conference during the UN General Assembly
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal
Tehran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Tehran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under.
However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.
Araqchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection to Tehran and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.
‘Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,’ he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.
