US says Iran’s new supreme leader likely ‘wounded’, dismisses Strait of Hormuz concerns

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been injured and pledged to continue ramping up attacks, while playing down the impact of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured”, Hegseth said during a press conference on Friday morning. The new Iranian leader’s first public address, issued on Thursday through a written statement, showed that “he’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run, and he lacks legitimacy”, according to Hegseth.

The US official and former television personality said that Friday will see “yet again, the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran and Tehran”.

“The number of sorties and number of bomber pulses, the highest yet, ramping up, and only up,” he said.

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

Hegseth’s remarks came amid an escalating crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the international flow of oil and goods. Ship passage through the strait has effectively came to a halt as Iran threatened to retaliate with a blockade, pushing up oil prices to record levels.

South China Morning Post