DUBAI/tehran, May 1 -- Iran's supreme leader said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic will protect its "nuclear and missile capabilities" as a national asset, likely seeking to draw a hard line as US President Donald Trump seeks a wider deal to cement the shaky ceasefire now holding in the war. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, speaking in a written statement read by a state television anchor as he has since taking over as Iran's supreme leader, struck a defiant tone, insisting the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is "at the bottom of its waters" and that a "new chapter" was being written in the region's history. "Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world's bullies in the region, and the United States' disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," said Khamenei in the message. The message by Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since his appointment on March 9 as Iran's new supreme leader, came on the annual national celebration of "Persian Gulf" day in Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei became supreme leader after the US and Israel launched a massive campaign of strikes on Iran on February 28, killing his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei. Last week, the New York Times citing several unnamed Iranian officials said the younger Khamenei was "gravely wounded" in the strikes but has remained "mentally sharp". In his Thursday message, he said US bases in the region "lack even the capacity to ensure their own security, let alone provide any hope of securing their allies". He hailed what he called Iran's "new legal framework and management" of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key energy chokepoint, as a means to bring "comfort and progress" for countries in the region. A recent Iranian proposal would push negotiations on the country's nuclear programme to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons. Iran long has maintained its program is peaceful, though it enriched uranium at near-weapons-grade levels of 60%. He referred to America as the "Great Satan", a long hurled insult by Iranian leaders towards the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would deepen disruptions in the Gulf and fail to achieve its objectives. "Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law... and is doomed to fail," Pezeshkian said....