Iran Defiant in Face of US Threats Amid Middle East War

Iran has responded strongly and directly to US threats amid a raging war in the Middle East. Ali Mohammad Naeini, a spokesman for Iran's powerful paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that Iran, not the US, will decide when the war ends. This statement comes after US President Donald Trump warned that if Iran disrupts global oil supplies, the US will hit it with 20 times more force than it has ever done. Trump said on social media that if Iran tries to stop the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz. About one-third of the world's seaborne oil trade passes through this strait, so any disruption here can seriously affect the global energy market. Amid this war, Iran has also undergone a major political change. After the assassination of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba Khomei has been elected to lead the global oil market in 2022.