TEHRAN — Iran has emerged as a new global power center through its control over the Strait of Hormuz, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Ali Abdollahi said, describing the strategic waterway as a key source of the country’s influence and a factor reshaping the global balance of power.

In a message marking the National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance, Abdollahi said the confrontation between Iran and the United States had evolved beyond a military conflict, with broader implications for the international order.

He identified the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, and Iran’s ability to determine the rules governing access to it as central to the country’s growing strategic influence.

Abdollahi stressed that Iran did not seek war and regarded military power as a means rather than an end. He said the country’s military doctrine had evolved from defense to offensive initiative and from crisis management to shaping a new regional order.

Five principles for lasting security

Outlining Iran’s approach to lasting security, the general set out five principles, beginning with an end to the war on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon and Gaza. He said negotiations conducted alongside threats amounted to coercion rather than genuine diplomacy.

The other principles included the complete removal of sanctions and the release of Iran’s frozen assets; compensation for the wars imposed on the country; recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz; and the establishment of indigenous security arrangements across West Asia.

On compensation, Abdollahi emphasized that Iran was a claimant, not a debtor. He also called for replacing the US security umbrella in the Persian Gulf with a “Hormuz mechanism,” an arrangement grounded in regional security.

He said the five principles did not constitute a peace proposal made from a position of weakness, but rather a doctrine for shaping a new regional order from a position of strength and active resistance.

Military readiness and deterrence

Reaffirming the Armed Forces’ readiness to confront threats, Abdollahi said intelligent military preparedness, supported by popular backing, was essential to achieving maximum deterrence.

He warned that Iran was updating its target bank and bringing the material and non-material assets of its US and Israeli adversaries within range. Any threat, regardless of its nature or scale, would be met with an immediate and effective response, he said, adding that such a response would not be constrained by geographical boundaries.

Abdollahi reaffirmed the Armed Forces’ commitment to the directives of the Commander-in-Chief, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei.