United States must close all its bases in region: Mojtaba Khamenei
\n tehran
\nIran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and attack US bases, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in a statement read out on state television, his first remarks since succeeding his slain father.
\nIn the defiant address, Khamenei said the United States must close all its bases in the region. The strait, which runs past Iran\u2019s coast and supplies a fifth of the world\u2019s oil, should remain shut to put pressure on the enemy, he said.
\nHe said that said Iran will seek compensation from enemies or destroy their assets accordingly. Khamenei said that the \u2018resistance front\u2019 is an inseparable part of the Islamic revolution\u2019s values.
\n\u201cWe believe in friendship with neighbours and only targeted the bases, and we will inevitably continue,\u201d says the Iran\u2019s new supreme leader.
\nTwo tankers were ablaze in an Iraqi port on Thursday after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, a step-up in attacks that have cut off oil from the Middle East and defied US President Donald Trump\u2019s claim to have won the war he launched two weeks ago.
\nImages verified by Reuters as having been filmed from the shore of the port of Basra showed ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs that lit up the night sky, after the attacks, which Iraqi authorities blamed on Iranian boats. At least one crew member was killed.
\nHours earlier, three other ships had been struck in the Gulf. Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for at least one of those attacks, on a Thai bulk carrier that was set ablaze, which the Guards said had disobeyed their orders. Another container vessel reported being struck by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
\nGlobal energy supplies disrupted
\nThe war that began with a US-Israeli bombing campaign at the end of February has so far killed around 2,000 people and caused what the International Energy Agency describes as the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history.
\nUndermining US and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran\u2019s stock of long-range weapons, more drones were reported on Thursday flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.
\nLebanon\u2019s Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired its biggest volley of rockets into Israel of the war, prompting fresh Israeli strikes on Beirut.
\nOil prices soared back above $100 a barrel LCOc1, having come down earlier in the week when Trump said the war would be over soon. Iran has said it will not let oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the world\u2019s most important energy trade route, until US and Israeli attacks cease. O\/R
\nTrump says \u2018we won\u2019
\nTrump has repeatedly tried to calm energy markets this week by saying the surge in oil prices will be short-lived.
\nBut he has not explained how the war will end, or presented a plan to reopen the blockaded strait. US and Israeli officials say the aim is to destroy Iran\u2019s missile and nuclear programmes, but Trump has also demanded Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d and the power to determine its leaders.
\n\u201cYou never like to say too early you won. We won,\u201d \u200bTrump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday. \u201cIn \u200bthe first hour it was over.\u201d
\nThe United States had \u201cvirtually destroyed Iran\u201d, he said. But he added: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United States must close all its bases in region: Mojtaba Khamenei tehran Iran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and attack US bases, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in a statement read out on state television, his first remarks since succeeding his slain father. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-536259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n