Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, declared on Saturday that avenging the killing of his father and predecessor was “the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” hours after US President Donald Trump threatened to launch a thousand missiles and “completely decimate” Iran should any attempt be made on his life. The written statement, read on state television, marked Mojtaba Khamenei’s first public message since the funeral of Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on 28 February, the opening day of the war. The exchange of threats followed a week of renewed military strikes that shattered a June ceasefire and pushed the conflict into a more volatile phase.

According to Iranian state media, the supreme leader asserted that Tehran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted and that the pursuit of revenge would proceed regardless of whether he or other officials remained in power. The statement was issued as millions of mourners at the week-long funeral ceremonies in Iran and Iraq carried placards calling for the killing of Trump. From Washington, the president posted on his Truth Social platform that “orders have already been given” and the US military was prepared to destroy all areas of Iran for a one-year period, subject to extension. The White House warning followed reports, first published by The Wall Street Journal, that Israeli intelligence had shared a new assessment with Washington alleging Iran was devising a plan to assassinate Trump. US officials, however, expressed scepticism, with some describing the information as unverified and noting that hardline Israeli factions had previously supplied similar warnings to influence the course of the war.

The rhetorical escalation unfolded against the backdrop of a diplomatic process in disarray. A memorandum of understanding signed in June under Pakistani mediation had called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the lifting of the US naval blockade, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. That agreement unravelled this week after three commercial tankers were attacked while transiting a US-recommended route through Omani waters. Iran, which insists the only safe passage runs through its own controlled corridor, blamed the incident on a rogue internal group, according to US media reports. Washington responded with strikes that Iranian health officials said killed 17 people and wounded 115, triggering Iranian reprisals against US-allied Gulf states. Trump declared the ceasefire over, yet simultaneously stated that negotiations would continue.

Mediation efforts are now focused on the Hormuz waterway, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies that Iran closed to commercial shipping during the war and now seeks to administer with navigation fees. US officials have conveyed through mediators a demand that Tehran publicly acknowledge the strait is open and pledge to stop firing on commercial vessels, with Axios and Politico reporting a deadline of Saturday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman for talks on administering the strait, while a Qatari delegation visited Tehran to reinforce Doha’s mediator role. Iran’s negotiating team, however, told the Fars news agency that it would not resume talks until Washington implemented prior commitments, including a special working group for Lebanon and the normalisation of oil exports. With both sides issuing maximalist public positions and the Hormuz deadline looming, the path back to a durable ceasefire remains blocked.