Tehran, April 30 -- Iran's supreme leader has broken his silence with a defiant message praising Tehran's grip over the Strait of Hormuz - one of the most critical global oil routes - and vowed to protect the country's nuclear and missile programmes.
"Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world's bullies in the region, and the United States' disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz," Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried by state media.
The supreme leader, who has been neither seen nor heard since February 28, is reportedly alive and has his faculties intact, though is said to have been badly injured during the US-Israel airstri...