Iran's supreme leader defies US blockade as oil prices soar
A man holds a flag with a picture of late leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, during a rally in Tehran, Wednesday (local time). Reuters
Iran's supreme leader declared Thursday that the United States had suffered a shameful defeat, defiantly rejecting a warning from President Donald Trump that an economically-punishing U.S. naval blockade could be enforced for months to come.
Oil prices hit a four-year high then fell back slightly, before Mojtaba Khamenei issued a written statement that was read out on state television declaring that Iran was now in the driver's seat in the crisis.
"Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world's bullies in the region, and the United States' disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," he said, hailing Iran's control over shipping in the strait.
Khamenei was wounded in the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed his father Ali Khamenei, and has not been seen in public since being named his successor as supreme leader on March 9.