Iran’s top commander boasts that war efforts prove Islam can ‘rule the world’

A top Iranian commander boasted Saturday that Tehran’s battlefield performance in the ongoing war with the United States proved that Islam rules the world.

Since the conflict erupted in February, Iran’s military — lobbing missiles at US bases and allied infrastructure in the Gulf region — has demonstrated that “Islam can be made to rule the world,” Ahmad Vahidi, who heads the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, professed in a message published Saturday.

Vahidi applauded the IRGC – and army, police and Basij military forces – for bringing the US, “the most heavily armed army in the history of the world to its knees.”

A pro-government supporter holds an AK-45 rifle during a military parade in downtown Tehran, Iran on April 17, 2026. NurPhoto via Getty Images

He also said Iran had “opened the gates of uprising for the oppressed of the world,” although many of Iran’s attacks have come against neighboring Islamic countries that house US military facilities.

The US maintains a naval armada around the vital Strait of Hormuz, has wiped out much of Iran’s navy and many of Iran’s missiles and launchers, according to US intelligence.

US and Israeli strikes at the beginning of the war took out much of Iran’s political leadership, although the regime remains intact.

Iran’s boast came on a day its Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state media that Tehran and Oman had agreed on shipping routes through the strait. Local reports didn’t say whether ships would face tolls or how the countries would ensure security.

The two sides had reportedly been negotiating a compromise for the waterway over the last several weeks.

The US was not involved in those discussions.

Two armed members of Iran’s police special forces stand behind a country flag placed on an armored military vehicle during a pro-Government rally in downtown Tehran, Iran, on January 12, 2026. NurPhoto via Getty Images

And in another dose of defiant rhetoric, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, responded late Friday to President Trump’s latest comments about the strait. 

“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian; this strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command,” Gharibabadi posted on X. 

Then he sneered: “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.”

On Friday, Trump joked that the strait would soon be a US possession at an event in Long Island alongside GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, on July 31, 2026, at Camp David, Maryland. Getty Images

“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” the president said.

“Essentially, that’s what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.”

Iran makes its own claims about controlling the strait, which the US and allies say must remain an open international waterway as a crucial shipping route. 

People spend time at a beach as commercial vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran Aug. 5, 2026. AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

Its parliamentary speaker, Hamidreza Haji-Babaei, touted a new law saying it would be “administered by the Islamic Republic because we are seeking to exercise sovereignty over the entire strait.”

In the latest attack in the waterway, two Abu Dhabi-owned oil tankers were hit by drones Thursday night. The government of the United Arab Emirates blamed Iran for the attack and called it an act of piracy. 

That brings the total to three Abu Dhabi vessels attacked this week. 

“We will safeguard our rights to freedom of navigation … while continuing the path of dialogue and prioritising diplomatic options,” said Anwar Gargash, an advisor to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a post on X.

Negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran to end the war have repeatedly stalled.