A man holds a picture of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, while people attend a funeral ceremony for the Iranian military commanders who were killed in strikes, in Tehran, Iran, March 11, 2026. MAJID ASGARIPOUR / VIA REUTERS
Iran's new supreme leader ordered the vital Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane to remain closed on Thursday, March 12, while US President Donald Trump said stopping the Islamic Republic's "evil empire" was more important than crude prices.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in an air strike, has yet to appear publicly since his nomination last Sunday as supreme leader, and his defiant message was read by a newscaster on state television.
Khamenei, whose father Ali Khamenei was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli attacks at the start of the Middle East war, called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain blocked and for Gulf countries to close their US military bases.
"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used," Khamenei said of the waterway through which a quarter of world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually transits. He added that "a limited amount of" Iran's revenge for US and Israeli strikes had "taken concrete form, but until it is fully achieved, this case will remain among our priorities."
