\n<\/p>\n
DUBAI: Iran will fight on and keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in a statement read out on state television, the first remarks attributed to him \u200bsince he succeeded his slain father.<\/strong><\/p>\n In a defiant address, Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran\u2019s neighbours should close all U.S. bases on their territory, which Iran would continue to attack.<\/p>\n \u201cI assure everyone that we will not neglect avenging \u200cthe blood of your martyrs,\u201d he told the Iranian people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe popular demand is to continue our effective defence and make the enemy regret! The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used,\u201d he said of the shipping route, where a fifth of global oil normally runs past Iran\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n State television offered no explanation for why Khamenei\u2019s first remarks were read out by a presenter rather than delivered in a video address. No images have yet been released of him since the strike that killed his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n Iranian officials have said the younger \u200bMojtaba Khamenei was lightly wounded. He said in his address that his wife, sister and other family members were also killed.<\/p>\n Shortly after Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s address, the Revolutionary Guards announced that, in keeping with his orders, they would \u200bkeep the strait shut.<\/p>\n Two tankers\u00a0were ablaze in an Iraqi port on Thursday after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, a step-up in attacks that have cut off oil from \u2060the Middle East. The attacks were a clear sign of defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Wednesday the United States had already won the war.<\/p>\n Images verified by Reuters as having been filmed from the shore of the port of Basra \u200bshowed ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs that lit up the night sky. At least one crew member was killed in the attacks.<\/p>\n Hours earlier, three other ships had been struck in the Gulf. Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for at least one of those \u200battacks, on a Thai bulk carrier that was set ablaze, which the Guards said had disobeyed their orders. Another container vessel reported being struck by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.<\/p>\n The war that began with a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign at the end of February has so far\u00a0killed around 2,000 people\u00a0and caused what the International Energy Agency describes as the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history.<\/p>\n Undermining U.S. and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran\u2019s stock of long-range weapons, more drones were reported on Thursday flying into \u200bKuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired its biggest volley of rockets into Israel of the war, prompting fresh Israeli strikes on Beirut.<\/p>\n Oil prices soared back above $100 a barrel , having come down earlier in the week when Trump said \u200bthe war would be over soon. Iran has said it will not let oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the world\u2019s most important energy trade route, until U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly tried to calm energy markets this week by saying the surge \u200cin oil prices \u2060will be short-lived.<\/p>\n But he has not explained how the war will end, or presented a plan to reopen the blockaded strait. U.S. and Israeli officials say the aim is to destroy Iran\u2019s missile and nuclear programmes, but Trump has also demanded Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d and the power to determine its leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never like to say too early you won. We won,\u201d Trump told a\u00a0campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday. \u201cIn the first hour it was over.\u201d<\/p>\n But he added: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, Trump said the United States profited from higher oil prices, but that his priority was stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n The U.S. is a net oil exporter but is also the world\u2019s biggest oil consumer, burning around twice as \u200bmuch as its peer, the European Union. Economists say sustained \u200bhigh prices would cause broad inflation.<\/p>\n Inside Iran, \u2060residents said security forces were increasing their presence on the streets, demonstrating their continued control.<\/p>\n \u201cSecurity forces are everywhere, more than before. People are afraid to come out, but supermarkets are open,\u201d teacher Majan, 35, said by phone from Tehran.<\/p>\n Three sources told Reuters that\u00a0U.S. intelligence indicated\u00a0that Iran\u2019s leadership was still largely intact and not at risk of collapse any time soon.<\/p>\n Israel and the United States \u200bhave called on Iranians to rise up and topple their clerical rulers. Many Iranians want change and some openly celebrated the death on the war\u2019s first day of the elder \u200bsupreme leader, whose security forces had \u2060killed thousands of anti-government protesters in January.<\/p>\n But there has been no sign of organised anti-government activity while the country is under attack.<\/p>\n Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s remarks reinforce the message from Iran that its strategy now is to impose a prolonged economic shock to force Trump to back off. A spokesperson for Iran\u2019s military command said on Wednesday that the world should prepare for oil prices of $200 a barrel.<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s surge in oil prices came despite the announcement the previous day that developed countries would\u00a0release 400 million barrels of oil from their \u2060strategic reserves, nearly half \u200bfrom the United States.<\/p>\n That is by far the biggest-ever coordinated intervention into the oil markets. But releasing the reserves will take months, and account for \u200bjust three weeks of supply from the blockaded strait.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only way to see oil prices trade lower on a sustained basis is by getting oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d ING analysts said.<\/p>\n \u201cFailing to do so means that the market highs are still ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTANKERS ABLAZE IN IRAQI PORT<\/strong><\/h2>\n
GLOBAL ENERGY SUPPLIES DISRUPTED<\/strong><\/h2>\n
TRUMP SAYS \u2018WE WON\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018SECURITY FORCES ARE EVERYWHERE\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
TEHRAN SEEKS PROLONGED ECONOMIC SHOCK<\/strong><\/h2>\n