Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN, March 12, 2026. Photo: Screengrab/ Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Preserving peace in the Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s “inherent right,” Tehran’s top representative at the United Nations told Rudaw on Thursday, noting however that plans to close the key waterway are not currently on the table, despite earlier remarks from Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader suggesting that pressure through the Strait be used.
Asked about his country’s stance on freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told Rudaw, “We are not going to close the Strait of Hormuz,” adding however that “it is our inherent right to preserve peace and security in this waterway.”
The remarks came shortly after Iran’s newly named Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, stated on Thursday that “the lever of closing the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used” against the enemy in the ongoing Iran-Israel-US war.
The 56-year-old leader made the comment in his first written message since his appointment last Sunday, read out on state TV. His naming came a little over a week after the US and Israel launched a joint aerial campaign against Iran on February 28, killing several of the country’s top leaders and commanders, including the prominent cleric’s father and long-time Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939 - 2026).
For its part, Iran said on Friday that it had launched more than 2,000 drones and over 600 missiles targeting US and Israeli positions as part of its multi-front response, dubbed Operation True Promise 4.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial traffic after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recently declared it a restricted war zone, warning it would “set ablaze” any ship attempting to pass through.
Often described as the world’s most critical oil shipping corridor, the Strait of Hormuz has remained largely closed to commercial shipping for 14 consecutive days as the war continues. The strait typically handles about 20 percent of global seaborne oil trade.
The conflict has drawn in more than a dozen countries and has already disrupted regional oil production, forcing major producers across the region to reduce output and seek alternative export routes as global energy markets face mounting uncertainty.
In separate but related remarks, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, was asked by Rudaw about Moscow’s view on Tehran using the waterway as leverage. He said, “The Strait of Hormuz is not our territorial waters. I don't think we can do anything about that.”
Namo Abdulla contributed to this article from New York.
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