Iran’s New Supreme Leader Threatens the U.S.: "Americans Belong in the Depths of the Persian Gulf"

About a month and a half after taking over as Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei continues to avoid public appearances—but is sending messages through official channels. At midday Thursday, a statement on his behalf was read on Iranian state television, in which he directly threatened the United States: "The only place where Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is the depths of the sea".

In the statement, he described the U.S. as the "Great Satan," and declared: "Today, two months after the largest military deployment and acts of aggression carried out by the tyrants of this world in the region, and after America’s humiliating defeat, a new chapter begins".

Khamenei added that "the region’s bright future will be without America and in the service of progress. This chain of victory will mark the beginning of a new order in the region and the world".

He also claimed that Tehran does not intend to yield to American pressure to abandon its nuclear program. In his remarks, he signaled continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes: "Islamic Iran... will make the Persian Gulf region secure and put an end to the abuse of this waterway by the hostile enemy". He also said that "the legal rules and the new management of the Strait of Hormuz will bring welfare and progress".