Strait of Hormuz must stay closed, Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei says in defiant statement

LQ Lucy QuagginSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-03-12 · 14:05 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min

Reading time

1_min

Word count

129_words

Sources cited

0_cited

Entities identified

7_entities

Quality score

100_%

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Briefing Summary

AI-generated

NEWSAR · AI

In his first statement since succeeding his father, Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. Khamenei stated that blocking the Strait, a vital waterway for global oil supplies, "must definitely be used." He also demanded the United States close all its bases in the region. The statement, broadcast on state television on Thursday, follows the death of his father at the start of the US-Israel war against Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic location through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes.

Confidence 0.85Claims 5Entities 7

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Article analysis

Model · rule-based

Framing

Conflict

National Security

Tone

Mixed Tone

AI-assessed

CalmNeutralAlarmist

Factuality

0.70 / 1.00

Factual

LowHigh

Sources cited

No named sources

FewMany

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Key claims

5 extracted

Khamenei's remarks were his first since his father was killed at the start of the US-Israel war against Iran.

factual

Confidence

1.00

Khamenei said the US must close all of its bases in the region as soon as possible.

quoteKhamenei

Confidence

1.00

Mojtaba Khamenei said the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used.

quoteMojtaba Khamenei

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1.00

Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

quoteIran’s new supreme leader

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1.00

The Strait of Hormuz supplies a fifth of the world’s oil.

factual

Confidence

0.90

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Full report

1 min read · 129 words

Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, attack US bases and retaliate for those killed, in his first statement since succeeding his father.“The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Mojtaba Khamenei said about the strategic waterway, which supplies a fifth of the world’s oil.He added that the US must close all of its bases in the region “as soon as possible, because they must have realised by now that the claim of establishing security and peace by America was nothing more than a lie”.Khamenei’s remarks on Thursday were his first since his father was killed at the start of the Israel-war-against-Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="41639" data-entity-type="event">US-Israel war against Iran and were read on state television by a news anchor.This is a developing story.....

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