Mojtaba Khamenei said to reject ceasefire talks, demand US and Israel be ‘brought to their knees’
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei held his first foreign policy session after being elected religious leader and took a “very harsh and serious” stance on revenge against the USA and Israel.
Iran’s new supreme leader has rejected overtures to de-escalate tensions conveyed to Tehran by intermediaries and demanded that Israel and the United States “take the knee” first, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei held his first foreign policy session since being elected supreme leader and took a “very tough and serious” stance to take revenge against the United States and Israel, the official said, without clarifying whether the leader attended in person or remotely.
The senior official, who did not want to be named, said that the two intermediary countries sent proposals to the Iranian Foreign Ministry for “reducing tensions or a ceasefire with the USA”. The official did not provide further details about the offers or intermediaries.
The religious leader said it was not “the right time for peace until the United States and Israel bring themselves to their knees, admit defeat and pay reparations.”
The final say in all state matters in the Islamic Republic belongs to the religious leader. No new photos of him have been published since he was chosen by the religious council to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a week ago.
Tankers sail in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah near the border with Oman’s Musandam administration, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Source: REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo)
Iran’s new leader rejects proposals to reduce tensions
Some Iranian officials said that he was slightly injured in the attacks in which his father was killed. US officials claimed he was seriously injured.
The US-Israel war against Iran is in its third week; At least 2,000 people have died and there is no end in sight. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed; U.S. allies are turning down U.S. President Donald Trump’s request for help reopening the critical waterway, energy prices are rising and inflation fears are rising.
In his first public message since his election, read by a state television broadcaster last week, the new religious leader said the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed as a tool of pressure on “Iran’s enemies.”
The Trump administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to open diplomatic talks aimed at ending the Iran war, three sources told Reuters on March 14.
