Other sources<\/a> have claimed that the younger Khamenei is not exercising the same centralized authority as his father, with power instead shifting to senior commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and out of the office of the supreme leader, who remains under close medical care.<\/p>\n Khamenei\u2019s most recent remarks come as Iran\u2019s oil industry has begun to be squeezed by a US Navy blockade halting its oil tankers from getting out to sea. Meanwhile, benchmark Brent crude for June delivery reached as much as $126 a barrel in trading on Thursday as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition \t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n All this is putting additional pressure on the world\u2019s economy as Trump<\/a> likely weighs how to respond.<\/p>\n \t \u201cBy God\u2019s 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,\u201d Khamenei said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny,\u201d he said. \u201cForeigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it \u2014 except at the bottom of its waters.\u201d<\/p>\n Ceasefire shaken as strait choked off<\/p>\n With a fragile ceasefire in place, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait. The US blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store oil.<\/p>\n \t The strait\u2019s closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.<\/p>\n A recent Iranian proposal would push negotiations on the country\u2019s nuclear program to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has long maintained its program is peaceful, though it enriched uranium at near-weapons-grade levels of 60 percent.<\/p>\n Speaking to mark Persian Gulf Day in Iran, Khamenei\u2019s remarks signaled that nuclear issues and Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program wouldn\u2019t be traded away.<\/p>\n \u201cNinety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran\u2019s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities \u2014 from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities \u2014 as national assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country\u2019s waters, land and airspace,\u201d Khamenei said.<\/p>\n He referred to America as the \u201cGreat Satan,\u201d a long hurled insult by Iranian leaders toward the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n \t Khamenei signals strait will remain shut<\/p>\n In his remarks, Khamenei seemed to signal Iran would maintain its control over the waterway, which sits in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Iran had been charging some ships reportedly $2 million apiece to travel through the strait.<\/p>\n He said that Iran\u2019s control of the Strait of Hormuz will make the Gulf more secure, and that Tehran\u2019s \u201clegal rules and new management\u201d of the strait will benefit all the region\u2019s nations.<\/p>\n However, the world considered the strait an international waterway, open to all without paying tolls. Gulf Arab nations, chief among them the United Arab Emirates, have decried Iran\u2019s control of the strait as akin to piracy.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIn this photo released by Tasnim News Agency, a Revolutionary Guard Navy (IRGC) speedboat approaches the cargo ship Epaminondas during what state media described as the seizure of one of two vessels accused of violations in the Strait of Hormuz, April 21, 2026. (Meysam Mirzadeh\/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26115565383147-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA woman walks past an anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former US embassy mocking Iran and United States talks, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26119674466938-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA police officer stands guard in front of a banner with portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a state-organized rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n
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