Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a new written statement that was read aloud on Iranian state television on Thursday. In a major declaration, he said that Iran will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, even as US President Donald Trump has pledged to continue the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz until a nuclear deal is reached with Tehran.
Khamenei, in a vitriolic criticism of Americans, said that the only place they belong to in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters”.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei said in the statement.
“We and our neighbours across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometres away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it, except at the bottom of its waters,” Khamenei added.