DUBAI: Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, even as US President Donald Trump tries to get a deal on those issues.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei spoke in a written statement read aloud on Iranian state television, as he has since he took over after the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his 86-year-old father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities — from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities — as national assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country’s waters, land and airspace,” Khamenei said.
He said the only place Americans belong in the Arabian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters,” as the Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran’s chokehold.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Arabian 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 neighbors across the waters of the Arabian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters.”
The statements follow reports the United States is pressing ahead with plans for an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, as oil prices surge on fears of lengthy disruptions to global fuel supplies.
In a sign the US was also envisaging a scenario where hostilities cease, the State Department cable invited partner countries to join a new coalition called Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC) to enable ships to navigate the strait.
“The MFC constitutes a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict maritime security architecture for the Middle East,” said the cable, which was due to be delivered orally to partner nations by May 1.
France, Britain and other countries have held talks on contributing to such a coalition but said they were only willing to help open the Strait when the conflict ends.
With AP inputs
Iran’s supreme leader says it will protect its ‘nuclear, missile capabilities’
