New York, United States. Israel’s U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, holds the same radical ideology as before and that Israel will target anyone who promotes radical ideas against it. He made the remarks on Monday while speaking to reporters at the United Nations.
Remarks on Iran’s leadership change
Danon said that replacing a leader does not change Iran’s governing system. He was responding to Iran’s naming of Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ali Khamenei, who Danon said was killed on the first day of the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran at the end of last month.
Danon said the new leader represented “more of the same ideology” and warned that “anyone who will promote those radical ideas against us, we will target them, we will find them.”
Calls for Iranians to choose their next leader
Danon said the people of Iran should rise up to choose their next leader. He added: “We will have to create the conditions for them, and that is what we are doing now.”
Strait of Hormuz and regional security
Asked about threats to energy traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s attacks against neighboring countries, Danon said Israel and the U.S. were hunting Iran’s missile launchers and degrading its capabilities.
He said this would make it harder for Iran to attack civilians in Dubai and to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, while noting it would not be “100% guaranteed.” Danon said he was optimistic and that daily attack numbers were declining.
The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped along Iran’s coast.
What do you think the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz could mean for global energy shipments?