Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has made a statement stating that the Gulf powers will no longer "be a shield" for American military bases and the US will no longer have "a safe haven" in the region.
"The hands of time will not turn back. The nations and lands of the region will no longer act as shields for US bases. Not only will America lack a safe haven for its mischief and military bases in the region, but its former status is fading day by day," Khamenei said in a statement on his Telegram channel.
The statement comes as Tehran and Washington discuss a framework to end their three-month-old war.
Khamenei took over in March after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in US-Israel air strikes. The younger Khamenei has so far not appeared in public.
The message, published by Iranian media as part of Khamenei's remarks marking the Hajj pilgrimage, said the slogans "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" would remain the rallying cries of the Islamic world, particularly among young people.
It said the United States and Israel had been targeted through missile and drone capabilities on land, at sea and in the air, and that regional countries would no longer serve as a shield for US military presence.
"The region will not return to past conditions, and Washington will no longer have a safe place to station military bases in the region," the message added.
Khamenei said countries in the region share capacities and interests that could help shape "a new order in the region and the world."
The statement was published despite no image or audio recording of Mojtaba Khamenei having appeared since the war began in February.
