As the Middle East war neared its two‑week mark on Friday, new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei delivered his first public comments, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and demanding neighbouring countries expel U.S. bases or face Iranian strikes — pronouncements that further hardened rhetoric on all sides and sent oil and stock markets tumbling.
Khamenei’s remarks were read out by a television presenter on Thursday and included an explicit vow “not to neglect avenging the blood of your martyrs,” according to state broadcasts. The hardline cleric, described in official coverage as close to Iran’s top military force, did not appear in person in the broadcast; no reason was given for his absence. His call to shut the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of global oil typically passes — raised immediate fears of prolonged disruption to energy flows.
In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first news conference since the U.S. and Israeli air strikes began on Feb. 28, taking questions by video link and defending the campaign. Netanyahu issued a veiled threat aimed at Iran’s leadership and said Israel was creating “optimal conditions for toppling the regime,” while declining to detail specific actions. “We can definitely help and we are helping,” he said, signalling continued Israeli involvement in efforts to weaken Tehran’s government from the outside.
The escalation had swift economic effects. Oil prices jumped roughly 9 percent to about US$100 a barrel on Thursday, and U.S. equities slumped, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest three‑day percentage drop in a month. Asian markets were also under pressure on Friday. To blunt the shock to global energy supplies, Washington on Thursday issued a 30‑day licence allowing countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea — a temporary move U.S. officials said was designed to stabilise markets. A U.S. official, identified in briefings as Bessent, called the price surge “short‑term and temporary,” while former President Donald Trump said the United States stood to make “significant money” from higher oil prices tied to the Strait’s closure.
Military activity and attacks continued across the region. Reports surfaced of drones entering airspace over Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman, undermining U.S. and Israeli assertions that much of Iran’s long‑range arsenal had been neutralised. Two tankers were set ablaze in Basra earlier in the week after suspected Iranian explosive‑laden boats struck them, and other commercial vessels were reported hit in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraq has become an active front. U.S. Central Command said it was conducting rescue operations after a U.S. refuelling aircraft went down in an incident that involved another aircraft but, the command added, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. Contradicting that account, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — an umbrella of Iran‑backed militias — claimed it had downed the aircraft. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron said one French soldier was killed and several wounded in an attack in northern Iraq, and an Italian base in the same area was also targeted.
The voices from Tehran, Jerusalem, Washington and allied capitals reflect a sharp intensification of the conflict: thousands have been killed, millions displaced or otherwise affected, and global energy and security dynamics rattled. The emergence of Mojtaba Khamenei as an outspoken new figure at the helm of Iran marks a fresh chapter in the crisis, and his explicit threats over the Strait of Hormuz add new urgency to diplomatic and military calculations as the confrontation moves beyond its initial exchanges.
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