Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, has sent his first public message since taking office. He warned that the important Strait of Hormuz will stay mostly closed. Iranian state television read the message, which called the move a “tool of pressure” against rivals around the world.
Khamenei hasn’t been seen in public since he was named, but the statement shows that he is serious about one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes. The Strait of Hormuz carries a lot of the world’s energy supply, so any problems there are a big worry for international markets.
The leader of Iran also said that countries near Iran are now targets because they have American military bases. The message says that Iran sees U.S. troops in the area as a direct threat and thinks that nearby countries are helping to put that pressure on Iran.
The rising tensions are already having an effect on the global energy market. The International Energy Agency said that if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz keeps getting blocked, the world could experience “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
Donald Trump has tried to calm people’s worries about rising oil prices in the US. Trump said that higher energy costs could help American producers and make the country’s energy sector stronger. But officials did say that things in the Gulf are still unstable.
The U.S. response has also been careful. The U.S. energy secretary said that the U.S. Navy is not yet ready to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz because Iranian forces are still attacking ships in the area.
At the same time, things are getting worse in Lebanon. The defense minister of Israel has told the military to get ready for bigger operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group that is based in the country. The renewed fighting has already killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands to leave their homes.
As regional powers respond to Iran’s threats and the growing risks to global energy supplies, the situation in the Middle East is changing quickly.
