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Iran's new supreme leader vows to avenge blood of its martyrs as conflict escalates

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom
Published March 12, 2026 at 10:42 AM CDT
A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Vahid Salemi/AP
A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said in televised remarks Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz — the shipping route for a fifth of the world’s oil supply — should remain closed. He also said that Iran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, including the 165 people, most of them children, killed in the Minab school attack.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd checks in with CNN’s Nic Robertson, international diplomatic editor on the ground in Kuwait, about the latest developments in the region.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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