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Major General Ali Abdollahi, chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said Iran has become the world's fourth-largest power by controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
Attributed to Major General Ali Abdollahi on IRNA
Searches found several Iranian and regional outlets reporting that Abdollahi made this statement in a message for Aban 13 (the National Day of Fight against Global Arrogance, 3 Nov 2026). Kayhan (Tehran Times-style report) and Nour News quote him saying Iran has emerged as the "fourth pole of power" by controlling the Strait of Hormuz. Anadolu-style coverage (anews.com.tr, citing state broadcaster) and Yemen Extra report the same message. The wording is "fourth pole of power", not literally "fourth-largest power", so the claim is a slight paraphrase. I did not open the original IRNA text, and I found no Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat or EUvsDisinfo fact-check on it. Separately, TASS reported that parliament deputy speaker Haji Babaei used similar "fourth superpower" language, which shows this is a recurring Iranian talking point.
Supporting sources
Multiple independent outlets, including Iranian state-linked media and Turkish outlet anews, report the quote with consistent wording. The original IRNA text was not directly checked, and "fourth pole of power" is not identical to "fourth-largest power", so I stopped short of CONFIRMED.
Some independent corroboration was found, but it isn't yet conclusive.
Nov 5, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC
LikelyInitial assessment.
First observed Nov 5, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC · Last reviewed Nov 5, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC