- Supreme Leader Khamenei says the United States will be forced out of the Middle East after suffering painful blows, state TV reported.
- Khamenei's written statement praised "valiant fighters" and guardians of the Strait of Hormuz for restricting enemy movements beyond the Arabian Sea.
- He has not appeared publicly since the Middle East war began in late February, yet released the message amid revived ceasefire talks.
- Iran and the US vie for control of Hormuz; mutual blockades threaten a strategic route that once carried a fifth of global oil and gas.
Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Monday the United States would be forced to leave the Middle East after suffering “painful blows”, according to a statement carried by state television, reported AFP.
Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the Middle East war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting.
“Today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they (the enemies) do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea,” Khamenei said in the written statement attributed to him, without explicitly mentioning the United States.
“Whenever they have braved this risk, they have only brought harm upon themselves. It will not be long before the Arabian Sea, too, would rid itself of their presence,” he added.
The Arabian Sea, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula toward India in the east, is a vital maritime corridor that leads to Iran’s coasts and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and the United States have been vying for control over Hormuz since the Middle East war started with US–Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Before the war began, the strategic shipping route carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
But Tehran imposed a blockade on Hormuz after the war started, prompting Washington to respond with its own blockade on Iranian ports.
