- Khamenei tells southern neighbors to choose “right side”.
- Adds the Strait of Hormuz leadership to enter a new phase soon.
- The public is encouraged to remain active despite the announcement of the ceasefire.
TEHRAN: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in his latest written message that his nation did not want war with the US and Israel but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported on Thursday.
“We did not seek war and we do not want it,” he said in the message read on state television, weeks after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was martyred on February 28, the first day of the war.
“But we will under no circumstances give up our legitimate rights, and in this regard we consider the entire resistance front as a whole,” he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Tehran’s ally Hezbollah.
“Everyone must know that by the will of Almighty God, we will certainly not allow the criminal aggressors who attacked our country to go unpunished.”
Iran this week agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States that could lead to peace talks following threats of annihilation by US President Donald Trump.
The Supreme Leader also urged the country’s southern neighbors to closely observe the ongoing regional developments, describing them as a “miracle” and calling for a clear and informed stance.
He said that Iran will move the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz into a new phase.
Khamenei told Iranians that they “must not imagine that it is no longer necessary to take to the streets” despite the announcement of the ceasefire.
“Your votes in public squares undoubtedly influence the outcome of the negotiations,” he said.
Probably injured in the strike that martyred his father, Mojtaba Khamenei, has still not been seen in public since his appointment as leader.
He has issued written statements, most of them read out by presenters on state television.
US President Donald Trump has even speculated that he might be dead, but Iran’s state television said he is recovering from his injuries and posted pictures of him without specifying when they were taken.
