据称，伊朗新任最高领袖穆杰塔巴·哈梅内伊周四发表了他的首份声明，誓言将利用关闭霍尔木兹海峡这一“杠杆”来阻止国际能源运输。此前有报道称，哈梅内伊在美以空袭中身负重伤，陷入昏迷，并已截肢。那次空袭导致他的父亲和其他家人丧生。
这份冗长的声明由一位主持人通过伊朗国家电视台宣读，屏幕上同时显示哈梅内伊的影像。对于这位56岁的最高领袖为何没有露面或宣读声明，官方并未给出任何解释。
“我向所有人保证，我们将毫不犹豫地为你们的烈士复仇，”最高领袖说。 “我们设想的报复不仅限于伟大的革命领袖（阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊）的殉难；而是每一个被敌人杀害的国民都构成复仇档案中的一个独立案例。”
他补充道，“我们衷心感谢我们勇敢的战士们，在我们国家和挚爱的祖国遭受傲慢阵线领导人的无端攻击之际，他们以强有力的打击阻挡了敌人的去路，粉碎了他们妄图统治或分裂我们挚爱祖国的幻想。”
哈梅尼特别提到要为在米纳布沙贾拉·塔伊贝小学袭击事件中丧生的人们复仇，并表示伊朗将向其敌人——美国和以色列——“索取赔偿”。
他说，“如果敌人拒绝，我们将从其资产中扣除我们认为合适的金额；如果无法做到这一点，我们将摧毁其资产，金额与扣除金额相同。”
这位阿亚图拉还表示，伊朗将继续攻击其海湾阿拉伯邻国，但他坚称德黑兰的目标仅仅是美国军事基地。
哈梅内伊说，“封锁霍尔木兹海峡的手段当然也必须继续使用。此外，我们还研究了开辟其他敌方经验不足且极易受攻击的战线。如果战争形势持续，并且考虑到形势的紧迫性，这些战线将会启动。”
伊朗最高领袖周一缺席了在德黑兰举行的继任者集会。自其父阿里·哈梅内伊在战争爆发后不久遭以色列空袭身亡后，他被任命为继任者以来，一直未公开露面。
此前，一位伊朗消息人士向《太阳报》透露，哈梅内伊实际上处于昏迷状态，正在德黑兰锡纳大学医院接受重症监护。
该消息人士称：“他的一条或两条腿被截肢。他的肝脏或胃也破裂。他显然也处于昏迷状态。”
其他伊朗消息人士坚称，哈梅内伊在第一波空袭中仅受轻伤——包括脚部骨折、眼部淤青和面部撕裂伤——并且当时正躲在高度安全的地点内。
与此同时，哈梅内伊在周四的声明中承认其父遇难，表明他事发后在场并目睹了父亲的遗体。
新任阿亚图拉还证实，他的妻子、一位姐妹、侄女以及另一位姐妹的丈夫也在空袭中丧生。
“我有幸在他殉难后看到了他的遗容，”哈梅内伊谈到他的父亲时说，“我看到的是一座坚韧不拔的山峰，我听说他完好无损的那只手紧握成拳。”
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, allegedly released his first statement Thursday vowing to use the “lever” of closing the Strait of Hormuz to international energy shipping — after reports circulated that he was in a coma and had his leg amputated after being severely injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members.
The lengthy message was read out on Iranian state TV by an anchor as an image of Khameni was displayed on screen. No explanation was provided for why the 56-year-old did not appear or read out his purported words.
“I assure everyone that we will not refrain from avenging the blood of your martyrs,” the supreme leader said. “The retaliation we have in mind is not limited only to the martyrdom of the great leader of the revolution [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]; rather, every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy constitutes a separate case in the file of revenge.”
“Our sincere thanks go to our brave fighters who, at a time when our nation and beloved homeland have been unjustly attacked by the leaders of the front of arrogance, have blocked the enemy’s path with their powerful blows and dispelled their illusion of being able to dominate our beloved country or possibly divide it,” he added.
Khameni, who specifically noted avenging those killed in the strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Minab, said Iran would “obtain compensation” from its enemy, meaning the US and Israel.
“If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent,” he said.
The ayatollah also said that Iran would continue to attack its Gulf Arab neighbors, though he insisted Tehran was only targeting US military bases.
“The lever of closing the Strait of Hormuz must certainly continue to be used as well. Studies have also been conducted on opening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable. Their activation will take place, if the wartime situation continues and in accordance with considerations of expediency,” Khamenei said.
The supreme leader, who was a no-show at his own succession rally in Tehran on Monday, still hasn’t been seen in public since he was appointed as his father’s successor in the wake of Ali Khamenei’s death in an Israeli strike just after the war began.
The statement came after an Iranian source claimed to The Sun that Khamenei was actually in a coma and undergoing intensive care at the Sina University Hospital in Tehran.
“One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,” the source alleged.
Other Iranian sources insisted Khamenei had only suffered minor injuries — including a fractured foot, bruised eye, and face lacerations during the initial wave of airstrikes — and was sheltering inside a highly secure location.
Khamenei, meanwhile, acknowledged the death of his father in Thursday’s statement, signaling he was present in the aftermath of the attack and saw his father’s body.
The new ayatollah also confirmed that his wife, one of his sisters, his niece, and the husband of his other sister died in the airstrike as well.
“I had the honor of seeing his body after his martyrdom,” Khamenei said of his father. “What I saw was a mountain of steadfastness, and I was told that the fist of his intact hand had been clenched.”