DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The newly appointed supreme leader delivers a combative statement, pledging that Iran will keep fighting.

Listen to this article | 1 min

info

Published On 12 Mar 202612 Mar 2026

Click here to share on social media

share2

plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo

Mojtaba Khamenei has issued his first statement since taking over as Iran’s new supreme leader, after his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several family members were assassinated in United Sates and Israeli strikes at the outset of the war which has now embroiled much of the Middle East.

In the statement, which was read on state TV on Thursday, Khamenei called for national unity and said the vital global artery of Strait of Hormuz would continue to be closed to pressure Iran’s enemies.

He added that all US bases should be immediately closed in the region or be attacked. While Iran believes in friendship with neighbours, Khamenei said attacks on US bases in the region would continue.

The resistance in Yemen “will also do the job,” the supreme leader said, adding that armed groups in Iraq also “want to help” the Islamic revolution.

Khamenei thanked the country’s military, who he said had stopped Iran from being dominated or divided as it came under attack.

“I would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack,” he said, and pledged that Iran would continue fighting.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 37 years, was killed in a United States-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts reached a majority consensus on Sunday, appointing his son as a successor.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the new supreme leader indicated that he would use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage and possibly ramp up the intensity of this conflict.

Asadi added that the Iranian society remains divided on Khamenei’s appointment despite his call for unity, mainly due to the same economic hardships that fuelled violent protests in December.