(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war on Thursday, saying that the leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used.
Khamenei called on people in Gulf countries to “shut down” US bases, saying promised US protection is “nothing more than a lie.”
Khamenei did not appear on camera. Israeli intelligence assessed that he was likely wounded in the war’s opening salvo, which he said also killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
US President Donald Trump has promised to “finish the job,” even as Iran is “virtually destroyed.” The first week of the war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon.
“One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy,” Khamenei said.
“If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.”
