Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei claimed Tuesday that Iran is not merely a superpower but the number one power globally, according to divine calculations, and asserted that enemy forces do not dare enter the Gulf and the Arabian Sea, which he said would soon be cleared of enemies.
The statements, carried by the account @FirstSquawk, represent the latest public assertions attributed to Khamenei at a time when questions about his health and visibility have circulated widely in international media.
According to @FirstSquawk, Khamenei said Iran's status is not a matter of conventional military or economic metrics but is determined by what he described as divine calculations. The account also reported that Khamenei claimed enemy forces avoid the Gulf and the Arabian Sea and that those waters would soon be cleared of what he called enemies.
The two posts from @FirstSquawk appeared within approximately thirty minutes of each other Tuesday morning, with the first addressing the divine-ranking claim and the second focusing on the maritime threats. Together they present a sequence in which Khamenei first asserts Iran's elevated global standing and then applies that framework to specific regional waters.
The remarks attributed to Khamenei come amid a backdrop of conflicting reports about his physical condition and public appearances. According to coverage from multiple outlets, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said one day ago that Khamenei is completely healthy and has recovered from injuries sustained during an airstrike. That characterization was reported by outlets tracking the story.
Other coverage has offered a different account of events. One report said Khamenei was pulled from the rubble of a Tehran hospital after United States and Israeli strikes reportedly hit the medical center where he had been. That account, attributed to unnamed sources, has not been independently confirmed.
An Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, also weighed in, according to The Jerusalem Post, denying the claim that Iran's former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had recommended his son to serve as his successor. The cleric's statement, as reported, addressed both the question of succession and the circumstances surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei's status.
Meanwhile, IBTimes UK reported one hour ago that Mojtaba Khamenei has remained unseen for months, fueling questions over his whereabouts as Iran offers new claims about his health and activities. That report noted the disparity between official assertions and the lack of public appearances.
The tweets from @FirstSquawk did not include any visual evidence or documentation to support the claims attributed to Khamenei. The account did not provide a date, location, or venue for the statements, nor did it indicate whether the remarks were delivered in person, through written statement, or via state media.
The claims about Iran's divine status and its naval dominance in the Gulf and Arabian Sea echo previous rhetoric from Iranian leadership, though the specific phrasing about divine calculations and being the number one power globally represents an escalation in the language used. The Gulf and Arabian Sea are strategic waterways through which a significant portion of global oil shipments transit, and the presence of United States naval forces in the region has been a longstanding point of tension with Iran.
Khamenei's reported assertion that enemy forces do not dare enter those waters stands in contrast to the regular patrols and operations conducted by the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is headquartered in Bahrain and operates throughout the region. The claim that the waters would soon be cleared of enemies suggests an expectation of future developments, though no timeline or specific action was outlined in the posts.
The question of Khamenei's health and visibility has become a recurring theme in coverage of Iranian leadership. The president's statement that Khamenei is completely healthy and has recovered from airstrike injuries was offered as a definitive assurance, yet it followed reports that he had been pulled from rubble and had been unseen for months. These competing narratives have not been reconciled in any publicly available account.
The Jerusalem Post report citing Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir added another dimension by addressing the question of succession. The cleric denied that Ali Khamenei had recommended his son for the position, a claim that, if true, would suggest a hereditary element to a role that in Iran's system is technically selected by the Assembly of Experts. The denial itself confirms that such claims have been circulating.
IBTimes UK's report that Khamenei has remained unseen for months raises the possibility that the statements attributed to him were issued through intermediaries or state media rather than delivered in person. The account @FirstSquawk did not clarify the mechanism by which the statements were made public.
The timing of the posts, appearing on a Tuesday morning, coincides with ongoing regional tensions and international scrutiny of Iran's nuclear program and military posture. The assertions about divine ranking and naval dominance could be interpreted as attempts to project strength amid external pressure, though the posts themselves do not offer interpretation or context.
Next News Network could not independently verify the claims attributed to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei or the circumstances surrounding his health and public appearances.
What is known is that the statements were carried by @FirstSquawk, an account that frequently posts news snippets, and that they align with a pattern of Iranian leadership rhetoric that emphasizes divine favor and regional military capability. Whether these specific remarks were delivered as reported, and in what context, remains unconfirmed by independent sources.
The conflicting accounts about Khamenei's health - completely healthy and recovered versus pulled from rubble and unseen for months - have not been resolved. The Iranian government has not provided a public appearance or video evidence to definitively establish Khamenei's current condition, and the reports citing unnamed sources have not been substantiated.
The succession question raised by the cleric's denial also remains open. If Ali Khamenei did recommend his son, that would represent a significant departure from the established process. If he did not, as the cleric claims, then the origin of that claim is unclear.
For now, the statements attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei stand as claims carried by @FirstSquawk, with the underlying events they reference - the divine ranking, the naval threats, the health status - all remaining unverified by independent reporting.
Our Take
The assertion that Iran is the number one power globally by divine calculations is not a policy statement but a theological claim, and it deserves to be treated as such. When a leader invokes divine authority to assert national supremacy, he is not describing a measurable reality but making a declaration of faith that cannot be debated on empirical grounds. That does not make it harmless. It makes it a rhetorical weapon, one that seeks to elevate Iran above international norms and accountability.
The claim that enemy forces do not dare enter the Gulf and Arabian Sea is similarly disconnected from the observable presence of the United States Fifth Fleet, which operates in those waters daily. Either Khamenei is misinformed, or he is speaking to a domestic audience that he believes will not check the facts. Either way, the statement is not a description of reality but a projection of desired reality.
The conflicting reports about Khamenei's health add another layer of concern. A leader who has not been seen in months, whose condition is described in wildly divergent terms by different sources, and whose statements are delivered without public appearance or verification, is not a leader who can be trusted to govern transparently. The Iranian people deserve better than a government that rules through mystery and divine claims.
The succession question, if the cleric's denial is accurate, suggests that even within Iran's clerical establishment there is disagreement about the proper process for selecting a supreme leader. That disagreement is a sign of internal instability, not strength.
None of this is to say that Iran's military capabilities should be dismissed. The Islamic Republic has demonstrated a willingness to project power through proxies and asymmetric means. But the rhetoric of divine supremacy and invincible naval dominance is not a strategy. It is a distraction from the real challenges facing the Iranian people: economic stagnation, international isolation, and a government that seems more interested in theological posturing than in improving lives.
The West should respond not with alarm but with clear-eyed assessment. Iran's leaders may believe their own rhetoric, but that does not make it true. The United States and its allies should continue to operate in international waters, maintain their military presence, and reject any claims of divine or exclusive dominion over the Gulf and Arabian Sea. The only power that matters is the one that can be verified, and on that measure, Iran's claims fall short.
