Mojtaba Khamenei Says 30 Million Iranians Ready for ‘Self-Sacrifice’ Amid Regional Tensions

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has claimed that the country has emerged as a major global power and warned that foreign “enemy forces” will soon be driven out of the Arabian Sea.

In a message issued on Monday, Khamenei said some people now regarded Iran as the “fourth superpower”, while asserting that, according to what he described as “divine calculations,” Iran could be considered the world’s leading power. His remarks were made amid continuing tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the wider conflict involving Iran and the United States. 

Khamenei claimed that enemy forces that previously operated in waters south of Iran had been pushed back toward the Arabian Sea after suffering what he called “painful blows” from Iranian fighters and defenders of the Strait of Hormuz.

He warned that their presence in the Arabian Sea would also come to an end.

“Soon, the Arabian Sea too will be cleared of them,” Khamenei said, according to reports of his message. 

The Iranian leader also highlighted what he described as widespread public mobilisation. He claimed that more than 30 million Iranians had declared their readiness for self-sacrifice and said that a subsequent organisational call-up with a capacity of 500,000 people was filled within its first 100 minutes. 

Khamenei's statement was issued during Iran's Sacred Defense Week, which commemorates the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, and around the second anniversary of the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

His comments come as Tehran and Washington remain locked in a confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important maritime route. Iranian officials have continued to stress their military readiness, while the United States has maintained pressure on Tehran amid efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict. 

Khamenei's claims about enemy movements and battlefield losses are assertions from the Iranian leadership and were not independently verified in the reports reviewed.