Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Monday that his country’s military will soon drive foreign forces out of the Arabian Sea.

Getting into it: In a written statement carried by state television and posted to accounts in his name on X and Telegram, Khamenei claimed Iran’s military has already driven its enemies back from the waters off southern Iran, which he said were once a “playground for enemy forces.” The statement, which marked the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War, did not mention the US by name and claimed Iran’s enemies are now the ones seeking “shelter” and pleading for the war to end.

“Having suffered painful blows from our valiant combatants and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they dare not venture beyond the Arabian Sea,” Khamenei said. “Whenever they have risked doing so, they have only inflicted harm upon themselves, and the time is fast approaching when the Arabian Sea, too, will be cleared of their presence.”

While the US has not responded to Khamenei’s statement directly, US Central Command pushed back Monday on a similar claim from a senior Iranian commander who said Iran has full control over the Strait of Hormuz through its navy. In a post on X, CENTCOM called the claim “FALSE,” writing that “Iran has no navy because American forces sank it,” and that Iran doesn’t control the strait, pointing to the thousands of ships and more than 1 billion barrels of oil that have passed through freely over the past few months.

This all comes as Iran’s economy buckles under the war and US sanctions. The rial hit a record low of 2.3 million to the dollar on the free market after the US rolled out a new round of sanctions meant to further isolate Tehran. Iran has also filed complaints with the UN’s civil aviation agency and the International Court of Justice over US restrictions on its airline industry that have forced flight cancellations.

Notably, Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public, on video or in a photo since becoming supreme leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on Feb. 28. He was reportedly badly wounded in the same attack.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted last week that Mojtaba Khamenei is “completely” healthy and still directing the government, though reports have said he communicates only through handwritten messages passed along by couriers to avoid US and Israeli surveillance.