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Iran's Supreme Leader Says Hormuz Strait Should Stay Closed
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March 12, 2026
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3:05Now PlayingJennie Welch, Bloomberg Economics chief geoeconomics analyst, said that she expects Iran will take even more of a hardline position towards any negotiations with the United States as the war drags on and that the longer the war goes on the larger the hit to both the US and global economy.
Iran’s new supreme leader said the Strait of Hormuz should remain shut and Tehran will look to open other fronts in the war if the US and Israel persist with their attacks.
In his first public comments since succeeding his father at the weekend, Mojtaba Khamenei said the Islamic Republic would seek to ensure the critical waterway for oil and gas stays effectively closed — maintaining a choke on supplies that’s triggered a surge in global energy prices.
His statement — published on state media on Thursday — came as US President Donald Trump said preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons and being a threat to the Middle East is “of far greater interest and importance to me” than the cost of oil.
The defiance shown by both leaders indicates that the war in the Middle East isn’t close to a de-escalation after almost two weeks of fighting. Israel launched a fresh wave of large-scale strikes across Iran on Thursday, while the Islamic Republic stepped up attacks on Dubai and shipping assets.
“Studies have been conducted into opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable, and their activation will take place if the state of war persists,” Khamenei said.
The new supreme leader, a 56-year-old hardline cleric, was appointed after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in early US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s new leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been wounded as part of the US and Israeli campaign against the country.
“We know the new so-called, not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” Hegseth told a press conference. He said the US was “on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before.”
President Donald Trump had earlier told Fox News in an interview that Khamenei was “damaged” and that “he’s probably alive in some form.”
The Iran war has sent oil prices up to about $100 a barrel with the vital Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, and US gas pump prices have continued to rise in turn.
On Thursday, Khamenei threatened to open “other fronts” in the conflict in his first public comments since assuming his role.
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