TEHRAN: Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in his latest written message that his nation did not want war with the United States and Israel, but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported Thursday.

“We did not seek war and we do not want it,” he said in the message read out on state TV, weeks after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was martyred on February 28, the first day of the war.

“But we will not renounce our legitimate rights under any circumstances, and in this respect, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole,” he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon where Israel is fighting with Tehran’s ally Hezbollah.

“All must know that, by Almighty God’s will, we definitely won’t allow the criminal aggressors who attacked our country to go unpunished.”

Iran this week agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States that could lead to peace negotiations after threats of annihilation from US President Donald Trump.

The supreme leader also urged the country’s southern neighbours to carefully observe ongoing regional developments, describing them as a “miracle” and calling for a clear and informed stance.

He said that Iran will move the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz into a new phase.

Khamenei told Iranians that they must “not imagine that taking to the streets is no longer necessary” despite the announcement of the ceasefire.

“Your voices in public squares are undoubtedly influential in the outcome of the negotiations,” he said.

Likely wounded in the strike that martyred his father, Mojtaba Khamenei, has still not been seen in public since his leadership appointment.

He has issued written declarations, most of them read out by presenters on state television.

US President Donald Trump has even speculated that he could be dead, but Iran’s state television said he is recovering from his injuries and posts photos of him, without specifying when they were taken.