In his first public statements of the war, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei stressed Thursday that "the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed." Or rather, it is clearly closed to all but those countries Tehran gives approval to.

Simultaneously Iranian state TV circulated rare "on the ground" direct reporting from the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, they had a correspondent literally in a fast-boat narrating what he saw in terms of surrounding stranded tankers.

Clearly it's also meant to intimidate the United States and the West - a form of psychological warfare - at a moment when extreme uncertainty lingers over global oil markets. 

The footage is possibly the first such local 'from the scene of the crisis' reporting - given the whole area has been on de facto lockdown under continued threat of Iranian missile and drone attacks, also given new reports the strait is being mined by the IRGC Navy.

The country's ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani has said, "Iran fully respects and remains committed to the principle of freedom of navigation under the law of the sea." However, he stressed that "the current situation in the region, including in the Strait of Hormuz, is not the result of Iran's lawful exercise of its right of self-defense. Rather, it is the direct consequence of the destabilizing actions of the United States in launching aggression against Iran and undermining regional security."

As for the fresh 'inside the Strait' view offered by the Iranian war correspondent below, PressTV describes the dramatic clip as "A field documentary from the heart of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, which shows vessels that remain silent - yet are targeted by the IRGC if they shift even a few meters."