‘Foreigners Belong at the Bottom of Its Waters’: Mojtaba Khamenei Issues Stark Warning to US on Persian Gulf Day

On Iran’s National Persian Gulf Day, Mojtaba Khamenei issued a blunt warning to the United States on Thursday, declaring that a “new chapter” for the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz was taking shape and that Tehran would secure the waterway and eliminate what he called “the enemy’s abuses” of it.

In a written message broadcast on Iranian state television, Khamenei said the Gulf region would have a “bright future” one without an American presence. He added that new management of the Strait of Hormuz would bring calm, progress, and economic benefits to all Gulf nations.

Khamenei’s message left little room for ambiguity on Iran’s nuclear and military posture. “Ninety million proud and honourable 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,” he wrote, reaffirming Tehran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear programme or missile development.

On the question of foreign military presence in the Gulf, Khamenei was unambiguous. “Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometres away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it except at the bottom of its waters,” he said. “By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort, and prosperity of its people.”

‘Persian Gulf Is Not a Theatre for Imposing Foreign Wills,’ Says President Pezeshkian

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also issued a Persian Gulf Day message, asserting that the Persian Gulf is not a theatre for imposing foreign wills and describing the Strait of Hormuz as a symbol of national sovereignty. Pezeshkian stated that Iran is the guardian of security across the Gulf and the Strait, and warned that any effort to impose a maritime blockade on Iran is doomed to failure.

Strait of Hormuz Blockade Squeezes Global Oil Supply

The remarks come as the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran which broke out on February 28 remains in a deadlock, with peace talks yielding no progress. The United States has extended the ceasefire while maintaining its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening disruptions to global oil and gas trade.

Brent crude has surged past $120 per barrel as a result the highest level since prices crossed $130 a barrel in March 2022 during the Ukraine war.