Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday, April 30, said that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, likely seeking to draw a hard line as United States President Donald Trump seeks a wider deal to cement the shaky ceasefire now holding in the war.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, speaking in a written statement read by a state television anchor as he has since taking over as Iran’s supreme leader, struck a defiant tone, insisting the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei said in the statement, read like all others since he reportedly was wounded in the February 28 attack that killed his father, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We and our neighbours across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters.”
He referred to America as the “Great Satan”, a long hurled insult by Iranian leaders toward the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Islamic Iran, by giving practical thanks for the blessing of exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz, will make the Persian Gulf region secure and put an end to the hostile enemy’s abuses of this waterway,” Khamenei said.
He also blamed the US military bases in the Middle East for the insecurity in the region. “America’s puppet bases do not even have the strength and capacity to ensure their own security, let alone that there is any hope that America will provide security to its dependents and American-loving people in the region,” he said.
US, Israel responsible for insecurity in Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s president
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the and Israel for the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, while defending the decision to limit “hostile countries.”
Commemorating the National Persian Gulf Day, which celebrates the expulsion of Portuguese forces from the Strait of Hormuz in 1622, Pezeskhian on Thursday, April 30, said the Strait was a “symbol of the great Iranian nation’s resistance.”
“The responsibility for any insecurity in this water area lies with the United States and the Zionist regime.” He added that the imposed blockade is “doomed to fail.”
“Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law and is doomed to fail,” Pezeshkian said in a statement. “Such measures not only fail to enhance regional security, but are in fact a source of tension and a disruption to lasting stability in the Persian Gulf.”
Israeli air raids target Haris, Beit Yahoun, and Ghandouriyeh in Lebanon
Israeli air raids have hit Ghandouriyeh, Haris, and Beit Yahoun towns in southern Lebanon as Hezbollah fighters continue to fire on northern Israel.
Israeli media earlier announced that a drone fell in the Shomera area, after being fired from Lebanon.
Hezbollah adopts new weapon: Fibre-optic drones, used widely in war in Ukraine
Hezbollah has launched a new weapon against northern Israel in the latest round of fighting: small drones controlled with fibre-optic cables the width of dental floss that avoid electronic detection.
These drones — used widely in the war in Ukraine — are small, hard to track and potentially lethal.
Many drones are susceptible to electronic jamming by air defences. Jamming can cause a drone to crash or return to its point of origin.
But fibre-optic drones are not controlled remotely. They have a thin cable that connects an operator directly to the drone, making it impossible to electronically jam.
The drones are not infallible because the wind — or other drones — can cause the cables to tangle.
But, “if you know what you’re doing, it’s absolutely deadly”, said Robert Tollast, a drone expert and researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London, explaining how the drone can fly low and creep up on a target.
Water station in southern Lebanon hit by Israeli forces
Israeli forces have targeted a water station in the town of Batouliyeh, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. It added that the town’s residents would rely on the station for pumping water.
Israeli military also hit a tourist resort in Al-Bayyad.
4-year-old, mother killed in Israeli attack
Four-year-old Mila Zayyat and her pregnant mother were killed in an Israeli attack on their home in southern Lebanon’s Tayr Debba. A video shows the father mourning his child while carrying her to the funeral site.
Rupee hits record intraday low of 95.34 against US dollar
The rupee on Thursday hit a lifetime intraday low of 95.34 against the US dollar before trading at 95.25 in the mid-session deals, tracking surging global crude oil prices and selling in domestic equities amid the West Asia crisis.
Meanwhile, the US Fed kept rates unchanged amid strong inflation pressure triggered by high crude prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.01 against the dollar, then lost 46 paise to touch a record intraday low of 95.34. In the afternoon session, the domestic currency was trading 37 paise lower at 95.25.
On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at an all-time low of 94.88 against the US dollar.
USS Ford aircraft carrier will be heading home after record-breaking deployment
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements.
The arrival of the USS George HW Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East — a number not seen since 2003 — during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. USS Abraham Lincoln has also been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up.
This month, the Ford broke the US record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.
(With inputs from agencies)
