WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s senior military leadership has been wiped out, alleging that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is “90% gone” as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Trump said recent joint US-Israeli military operations had destroyed Iran’s military capabilities.
“They have no navy. They have no air force. It’s all gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Their leaders have all been killed,” he said.
Trump also asserted that Iran’s top strategic commanders had been killed in the strikes.
“Their best leaders have been killed. They’re gone. Khamenei is gone,” he said, referring to Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed during the initial wave of US-Israeli airstrikes in late February.
The US President further claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei, widely seen as his father’s likely successor, had also been severely wounded.
“Mojtaba Khamenei is 90% gone,” Trump said, without providing further details or evidence.
The remarks came after the US and Iran exchanged fresh missile strikes over the weekend, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
Trump also announced that the US would reimpose what he described as an "Iranian blockade" in the Strait of Hormuz and require commercial vessels using the strategic waterway to pay for US protection.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US military would act as the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait”.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE... All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” he wrote.
He added that countries using the route would be required to reimburse the US for safeguarding shipping, proposing a 20% tariff based on the value of cargo transported through the strait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the proposal, insisting that Iran has historically been responsible for securing the waterway.
“Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. Twenty per cent is, of course, too much. We will be fair,” Araghchi wrote on social media.
The exchange highlights the growing confrontation between Washington and Tehran as both sides assert competing claims over the security of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route through which a significant share of the world's oil and gas supplies passes.
(With inputs from ANI)
