Hawzah News Agency- In March 1984, after Iraq attacked several vessels en route to Iran’s Bandar Imam port and threatened a naval blockade, Tehran reminded the world of its ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. The mere reminder drew an immediate and furious reaction from Reagan, who, in a bid to counteract the psychological and propaganda impact of Iran’s threat, announced: “I am committed to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.”
However, Reagan’s pledge did not sit well with other US officials, sparking a backlash in Congress. In defense of the President, Jeane Kirkpatrick, the then-US Ambassador to the United Nations, took to the podium to rebuke congressional opponents. She warned that Congress would be making a grave error if it moved to restrict Reagan’s capacity to confront Iran's threats in the Strait.
Reagan’s posturing in support of Saddam only intensified Iran’s response. In a detailed report on March 3, 1984, the Kayhan daily documented a powerful address by then-President Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Confronting Saddam’s blockade threats and the backing they received from major powers—particularly the United States—Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei laid out Iran’s strategic calculus starkly.
Addressing the Western propaganda machine that claimed Iran would suffer the most from a closure, Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei dismantled the narrative. He asserted that the greatest damage would be suffered by those whose entire edifice of power rests on the wealth pouring from the region.
He declared that the industrial world is utterly dependent on the oil passing through this geography, stating that without it, all the movement, effort, and facilities of the industrial powers must be considered null and void. Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei warned that the global economy’s gigantic wheels, all energy-driven electrical forces, and all modes of modern transport—airplanes, trains, ships, and automobiles—would grind to a halt.
In a direct message to the West’s industrial elite, he said the largest share of oil consumed by the industrial world transits through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. If that strait is sealed, the industrial world will lose every manifestation of its power, and without industrial power, it will possess no political clout. He compared a West bereft of oil to a toothless, emasculated lion, stripped of its influence and superpower status.
"The threat the Islamic Republic made on day one—that we will close the Strait of Hormuz if our oil convoys are attacked—was made with full knowledge of what that means and what we will do," Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei stated. He emphasized the heroic fortitude of the Iranian nation, noting that while Iranians have endured immense hardships and can withstand more, the hollow powers whose sole means of livelihood and dominance is oil cannot afford such resistance.
Source: Islamic Revolution Document Center
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