A representative of Iran's Supreme Leader has urged restrictions on Western shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, saying such a move would drive global oil prices to $200 and deal an economic blow to Iran's adversaries.
“We can impose restrictions against the United States, France, Britain and Germany in the Strait of Hormuz and not allow them to navigate,” Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of Ali Khamenei in the hardline Kayhan newspaper told state broadcaster.
“Just by announcing such a restriction, the oil price will surge to $200, and the biggest economic blow will be dealt to the enemy.”
This is not the first time Shariatmadari has raised the prospect of using Hormuz as leverage. Last year, after European sanctions on Iranian airlines, he urged the closure of the waterway to tankers and cargo ships from “hostile countries.”
At the time, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had not issued such a threat despite acknowledging it had the capacity to do so.
Other Iranian officials returned to the theme after US strikes on nuclear facilities earlier this year.
Closing the strait would be disastrous for Iran itself, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned in June.
“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them,” he said, urging China to pressure Tehran against such a move.
Any Iranian closure of Hormuz would be “extremely dangerous,” European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in June, while UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described it as “a monumental act of self-harm, making a diplomatic solution even harder.”
Global artery under strain
The Strait of Hormuz carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil exports. Iran has never attempted a full closure, but it has disrupted shipping through repeated seizures of commercial vessels.
“Europe and the United States would get miserable” if Tehran restricted oil flows, the Revolutionary Guards–linked Javan newspaper wrote in July, citing a shipping industry figure.
“Even countries with no link to the Iran-Israel war will suffer losses.”
The paper added that greater instability in the Middle East would drive up shipping and insurance costs globally.
Iran’s military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf after Israeli strikes in June, though the mines were not deployed, according to Reuters.
US officials said the move indicated Tehran was weighing a serious escalation that could cripple global commerce.
Iran’s parliament approved a measure to close the strait in June following US airstrikes, state media reported, though the measure was not binding.
“A review of the documents on these individuals' activities shows that they defied (mandatory) hijab laws, incited students to leave classes, and even procured solar panels and supplies for armed (opposition) elements,” Fars News Agency wrote.
The acknowledgment followed days of concern from unions and civil society groups, which said teachers were being targeted under broad security pretexts.
“According to the confessions of these teachers and the documents available, they not only played a role in the 2022 unrest but were also in contact with the PJAK militant group and provided them with food and equipment,” Fars reported citing an informed source.
PJAK, a PKK-affiliated group designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, Turkey, and the United States, seeks self-determination for Iran's Kurdish minority.
“These individuals, by abusing their job positions, have tried to create unrest and disrupt the educational process by closing schools, threatening other teachers, and organizing illegal sit-ins," the Fars report said.
However, a former teacher in Iran's Kordestan province says the crackdown targets teachers for their civil activism and their defense of students and their rights.
"At least six teachers have been fired, two suspended, several forced into early retirement, and one sent into exile — all because they refused to 'repent' for their civil activities and for standing firm in defending their students," Shahed Alavi told Iran International.
"This is the outcome of their resilience and defiance," he added.
Teachers’ unions denounce expulsions
Three professional associations of teachers in Kordestan and Kermanshah issued statements condemning the expulsions and disciplinary measures on Friday. They warned that the policies amounted to organized repression and would deepen the educational crisis while threatening the future of students.
The Kordestan Teachers’ Union described the dismissals as “unjust and vindictive,” calling them proof of the state’s “repressive policies.”
It further warned of consequences for the authorities, arguing that the expulsions represented the beginning of a new phase of resistance.
“Teachers in the province had long been subjected to pressure and discrimination, which intensified after the nationwide protests of 2022,” read the statement.
The 2022 protests in Iran, also known as the Woman Life Freedom Movement, erupted in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa "Jina" Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
Her death sparked widespread outrage, with demonstrations quickly spreading across dozens of cities. Protesters—many of them women and young people—called for greater freedoms, the abolition of mandatory hijab laws, and broader political reforms.
The movement soon evolved into one of the largest waves of dissent in Iran in decades, with workers’ strikes, university demonstrations, and global solidarity rallies amplifying the calls for change.
The government responded with a harsh crackdown, including mass arrests, internet shutdowns, and deadly force against demonstrators, drawing international condemnation.