- Khamenei tells his southern neighbors to choose the “right side.”
- The management of the Strait of Hormuz is added to soon enter a new phase.
- The public is urged to remain active despite the ceasefire announcement.
TEHRAN: Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in his last written message that his nation did not want a war with the United States and Israel but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported Thursday.
“We do 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 not give up our legitimate rights under any circumstances and, in this sense, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole,” he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon, where Israel fights with Tehran’s ally Hezbollah.
“Everyone should know that by the will of Almighty God, we will definitely not allow the criminal attackers who attacked our country to go unpunished.”
Iran agreed this week to a fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States that could lead to peace talks after US President Donald Trump’s threats of annihilation.
The supreme leader also urged the country’s southern neighbors to closely observe current regional developments, calling them a “miracle” and calling for a clear and informed stance.
He said Iran will take the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz to a new phase.
Khamenei told Iranians that they “should not imagine that taking to the streets is no longer necessary” despite the ceasefire announcement.
“Their voices in public squares undoubtedly influence the outcome of the negotiations,” he said.
Probably injured in the strike that martyred his father, Mojtaba Khamenei, he has not yet been seen in public since his appointment as leader.
He has issued written statements, most read by state television presenters.
US President Donald Trump has even speculated that he could be dead, but Iranian state television said he was recovering from his injuries and published photos of him, without specifying when they were taken.
