Iranian FM: Supreme leader ‘in excellent health,’ Strait of Hormuz open to all except US and its friends

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “is in excellent health,” claims Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, “in control of the situation, and present at his post.”

“The timing of televised messages or direct appearances before the people is his prerogative,” he tells Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

On Friday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured.” 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. His first apparent public comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday.

Araghchi insists Iran will not agree to stop fighting until it receives guarantees it will not be attacked again, and is paid reparations.

He also says that the Strait of Hormuz is open, and is only closed to “America and its allies.”

Araghchi justifies Iran’s hundreds of strikes on its neighbors in the Persian Gulf region and beyond, saying that it is only targeting American bases situated in these countries.

“We did not attack any residential or civilian targets,” he says. “There may have been collateral damage in residential areas, which is normal in any war.”

Iranian drones and missiles have been fired at civilian infrastructure in the UAE and other US allies, including Dubai’s airport, landmark hotels and the financial hub.

He also boasts about striking Citibank offices in Manama and in Dubai in response to a US strike on an Iranian bank in Tehran that is used to pay Iranian security forces.

Araghchi also blames the US and Israel for strikes on Arab states, claiming that Iran has “recently received information indicating that the United States and Israel are also launching attacks from specific locations toward Arab countries.”