A picture taken at sunset on March 12, 2026 shows a general view of the Bizkaia Bay Gas (BBG) regasification plant in the Spanish Basque city of Zierbena. The US-Israeli war on Iran has expanded across the Gulf and beyond, upending global energy markets and trade, and virtually halting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil travels. (AFP)
A picture taken at sunset on March 12, 2026 shows a general view of the Bizkaia Bay Gas (BBG) regasification plant in the Spanish Basque city of Zierbena. The US-Israeli war on Iran has expanded across the Gulf and beyond, upending global energy markets and trade, and virtually halting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil travels. (AFP)

Iran will fight on and keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel, ‌new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in the first comments attributed to him since he succeeded his slain father.

Khamenei did not appear in person and the remarks were read out by a state television presenter. No images have been released of him since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife.

Thursday's statement struck a defiant tone, with Khamenei calling on Iran's neighbours to shut US ‌bases on their territory and warning that Iran would continue to target them.

"I assure everyone that we will not neglect avenging the blood of your martyrs," said the hardline cleric who is close to Iran's top military force.

"The popular demand is to continue our effective defence and make the enemy regret it. The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used," he added, referring to the shipping route through which a fifth of global oil normally passes along Iran's coast.

State television offered no explanation for why the message was read ⁠out rather than delivered in person. Iranian officials have said Khamenei was lightly wounded in the initial February 28 airstrikes, but the extent of his injuries is unclear.

The prospect that one of the most severe disruptions ever to hit global energy supplies could drag on sent oil prices surging back above $100 a barrel, after falling back earlier in the week on hopes of a swift end to the conflict.