Iran's Leader Stresses Hormuz Management and Neighbor Ties in Security Council Meeting

Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, emphasized managing the Strait of Hormuz and expanding bilateral relations with neighboring countries, according to Mehr News. The report described the emphasis as more than a statement of two foreign policy priorities, framing it as a signal for reviewing the foundations of the Persian Gulf security order, which for decades has rested on a US military presence.

The article argued that recent developments have raised questions about the credibility and effectiveness of that arrangement. It said the main issue is not only how to deal with the consequences of what it called US and Israeli aggression against Iran, but how to turn the results of the confrontation into sustainable security arrangements matching new regional realities. According to the report, the recent confrontation exposed the vulnerability of US military installations in the region and, by extension, the credibility of Washington's deterrence. It said security can no longer be measured only by troop numbers, weapons volume or deployment size, and that the ability to impose costs on an adversary and prevent its goals is also part of the power equation. The report said this does not mean all neighboring countries have moved away from previous arrangements in the same way, but that unilateral reliance on an external power can no longer continue without assessing its costs and risks.

On the Strait of Hormuz, the article said the waterway's importance goes beyond economic and commercial value, placing it at the junction of regional security and the global economy. It said Iran's geographic location allows it to influence the strategic calculations of major powers, and that energy security, transportation costs and the stability of global markets depend to some extent on conditions in the passageway. The report described managing Hormuz as part of a long-term strategy to protect national security, while noting the need to distinguish between strategic capacity, legal rights and the way the waterway is managed, and to weigh the economic and diplomatic consequences of decisions.

The article further said no sustainable security order can be built on military deterrence alone, and described strong bilateral relations with neighbors as a complementary component. It listed shipping-lane security, energy-market stability, regional trade, transportation, water resource management and countering transboundary threats as areas of common interest. It said deeper economic, political and security ties would make disputes less likely to escalate into crises, while calling for a balanced approach that understands neighbors' legitimate concerns and builds trust through dialogue, transparency and practical agreements.

The report concluded that Iran's central challenge is to transform its defensive achievements and geopolitical advantages into a sustainable framework for regional security, combining deterrence with diplomacy. It said the new Persian Gulf order would be formed when regional security rests on mutual recognition of interests, respect for national sovereignty and shared responsibility rather than on the assumption of superiority and unlimited support from an outside power. According to Mehr News, the emphasis on these two components reflects the principle that the region's sustainable security must be built by the countries of the region with their active participation.