No appearance, no voice: Iran’s new leader issues first message in writing

The message was not delivered in person. Instead, it was read aloud by a state television anchor while a still photograph of Khamenei was displayed on screen, meaning that nearly two weeks after the conflict began, no video or audio recording of the new leader himself has been released.

Iranian authorities have provided no direct evidence of his condition following reports that he may have been injured during the strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei.

In the written statement attributed to him, Khamenei addressed the war, domestic unity, regional tensions and retaliation against enemies.

War and military pressure

In the message, Khamenei praised Iran’s armed forces and called for continued military resistance against what he described as aggression by the United States and Israel.

“The demand of the masses of the people is the continuation of effective and regret-inducing defense.”

He also said Iran should continue to use the threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the conflict.

“Certainly the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used,” he wrote.

Khamenei added that Iranian officials were studying the possibility of expanding the war into additional fronts where adversaries were vulnerable.

“Studies have been conducted regarding the opening of other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and is highly vulnerable,” he said. “Activating them will take place if the state of war continues and if it serves our interests.”

The statement also praised what Iran calls the “Axis of Resistance,” thanking allied armed groups in the region for supporting Tehran.

“We consider the countries of the resistance front our best friends,” he wrote. “The resistance front is an inseparable part of the values of the Islamic Revolution.”

He specifically referred to Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, saying they had stood alongside Iran despite obstacles.

Calls for unity and public participation

Much of the message was directed at Iran’s domestic audience, urging unity and mobilization during wartime.

Khamenei said that during the days immediately following the killing of his father, when Iran had temporarily been without a supreme leader or commander-in-chief, the population itself had shown resilience.

“The insight and intelligence of the great nation of Iran in the recent events and its perseverance, courage and presence astonished friends and enemies alike,” he wrote.

He warned that leadership and government institutions could not function effectively without public support, urging Iranians to maintain active participation in society.

“If your power does not appear on the scene, neither leadership nor any of the institutions whose true role is to serve the people will have the necessary effectiveness,” read the statement.

The new leader also called on citizens to continue participating in political and social activities during the war, including rallies and demonstrations.

“I remind you of the importance of participation in Quds Day ceremonies, where the element of confronting the enemy must be emphasized.”

Threat of retaliation

A major portion of the message focused on retaliation against those responsible for deaths during the war.

Khamenei vowed that the Islamic Republic would continue pursuing revenge for those killed in the conflict. “We will not ignore revenge for the blood of your martyrs,” he wrote.

He said retaliation would not be limited to the killing of his father but would extend to all Iranian casualties.

“The revenge we seek is not only for the martyrdom of the great leader of the revolution,” he wrote. “Every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy becomes an independent case for revenge.”

Khamenei said some retaliation had already occurred but that further actions would continue.

“A limited amount of this revenge has already taken place in practice. But until it reaches its complete extent, this case will remain open above all others.”

Warning to regional governments

Khamenei also issued a warning to governments in the Middle East whose territories host US military facilities.

He said Iranian forces had struck some of those bases during the war and suggested further attacks could follow.

“In the recent attack some military bases were used,” he wrote. “As we had clearly warned, and without attacking those countries themselves, we targeted only those bases.”

He added that Iran would continue striking such installations if they were used against the country.

“From now on we will be forced to continue doing this,” he wrote.

Khamenei urged regional governments to shut down foreign military bases.

“These countries must determine their position toward those who have attacked our homeland and killed our people,” he wrote. “I recommend they close those bases as soon as possible.”

A written message attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge for those killed in the conflict, saying Iran “will not refrain from avenging the blood of its martyrs.”

The message, read by a female presenter on Iranian state television, also said “the tool of closing the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved” and warned that Iran could open “other fronts if necessary.”

It added that Iran seeks friendly relations with neighboring countries and would target only bases from which attacks are launched against it.

The message attributed to Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s third supreme leader, was released without any indication of his whereabouts, health condition or physical status.

US President Donald Trump said the United States is focused on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“But of far greater interest and importance to me, as president, is stopping an evil empire, Iran, from having nuclear weapons,” he said.

For days the conflict had focused largely on military bases, missile sites and command facilities, particularly in southern Iran, as part of the wider US-Israeli campaign that has struck thousands of targets across the country since the war began on February 28.

But since Wednesday evening, reported drone strikes on checkpoints in Tehran have pointed to a parallel line of pressure: the local security posts, patrol units and temporary deployments used to enforce control on the streets.

Iranian state-linked media said several checkpoints in Tehran were hit, killing members of the security forces and Basij militia. The reported locations included positions in multiple districts across the capital.

The development suggests the conflict is increasingly intersecting with the structures the state relies on to control neighborhoods rather than only its larger military infrastructure.

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From fixed bases to moving checkpoints

Since the start of the war, residents across Iran say checkpoints and patrols have multiplied in major cities as authorities attempt to prevent unrest and maintain control.

At the same time, Iran International has received a steady stream of messages from viewers describing the locations of checkpoints, security deployments and temporary bases.

Some reports describe armed units inspecting vehicles at major highway entrances or intersections. Others mention security forces using schools, sports halls and religious institutions as temporary accommodation or staging points.

Messages received in recent days pointed to deployments in locations ranging from major Tehran highways to entrances to cities such as Karaj, Shiraz, Mashhad and Qazvin. Residents also described units stationed beneath highway bridges, near parks or inside parking areas where buses and motorcycles were parked overnight.

In several cases, viewers reported that checkpoints they had previously seen disappeared within hours or days, while others appeared to move to nearby streets or disperse into smaller patrol groups.

Some messages described security forces sleeping inside buses or personal vehicles and conducting mobile patrols rather than remaining in fixed positions.

Others said checkpoints that had been inspecting vehicles were suddenly dismantled, leaving only a few officers nearby.

Such reports cannot be independently verified in each case. But taken together they suggest that many deployments are becoming more fluid, with positions shifting frequently rather than remaining in one place.

A war over control of the neighborhood

The shift reflects a deeper pressure on the state’s local enforcement network.

For years the Islamic Republic has relied on a dense web of Basij, police and Revolutionary Guards positions to control neighborhoods and quickly suppress unrest.

During the recent nationwide protests earlier this year, these same networks formed the backbone of the crackdown that sealed off districts and quashed the demonstrations.

In wartime, those local security units appear to be playing an even more central role.

As larger bases and installations come under pressure from airstrikes, authorities appear to be relying more heavily on mobile checkpoints and temporary deployments to maintain control on the ground.

Now those fallback positions are also being drawn into the conflict.

The result is a battlefield that increasingly overlaps with everyday urban space. Instead of remaining confined to distant military facilities, the war is beginning to touch the street corners, highway entrances and neighborhood patrol routes where the state exerts day-to-day authority.

Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani warned that a US strike on Iran’s electricity infrastructure could plunge the region into darkness, responding to comments by Donald Trump.

Trump said on Wednesday that the United States could dismantle Iran’s electric capacity quickly.

“We could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it,” he said, adding Washington would ideally avoid such strikes.

“Well, if they do that, the whole region will go dark in less than half an hour,” Larijani wrote on X, adding that the blackout would provide “ample opportunity to hunt down US servicemen running for safety.”