Iran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, and attack US bases, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said yesterday, his first remarks since succeeding his slain father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In the defiant address, Khamenei said all US bases should be immediately closed in the region. While Iran believes in friendship with neighbours, Khamenei said attacks on US bases in the region would continue.

The strait, which runs past Iran’s coast and supplies a fifth of the world’s oil, should remain shut to put pressure on the enemy, he added.

On February 28, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several of his family members were assassinated on the first day of United States and Israeli strikes.

In a televised address, Khamenei called for national unity.

The resistance in Yemen “will also do the job,” the supreme leader said, adding that armed groups in Iraq also “want to help” the Islamic revolution.

Khamenei thanked the country’s military, who he said had stopped Iran from being dominated or divided as it came under attack.

“I would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack,” he said, and pledged that Iran would continue fighting.