Pezeshkian claims Iran victory as Trump escalates economic war

Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the United States should end after claiming Iran had won. His remarks came as Donald Trump intensified economic pressure on Tehran and Tom Barrack's Golan comments stirred a policy row.

In Short

• Pezeshkian said Iran had won and urged an end to hostilities
• Trump promised unprecedented economic warfare to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions
• Washington also demanded Tehran fully reopen Hormuz for oil and gas tankers

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the war with the United States should end because, according to him, the world has already accepted that Iran has won. At the same time, remarks by Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, have appeared to conflict with Washington's official position on the Golan Heights.

The developments came as the Trump administration stepped up pressure on Tehran with a promised "economic D-Day" and what President Donald Trump described as an "unprecedented" campaign of economic warfare and isolation. Barrack's comments on the Golan Heights, meanwhile, drew criticism from conservative activist Laura Loomer.

Iranian state media reported on Friday that Pezeshkian said the conflict with the US should now end. "The entire world approved our victory and the US is hated," he said, according to the IRNA news agency.

His remarks came as the Trump administration promoted what it described as a crushing financial campaign against Iran. Trump said the US would impose an "unprecedented" level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran to force its leadership to accept demands to end its nuclear programme and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

In an interview on Friday, Barrack said Israel "still" occupies the Golan Heights in violation of UN resolutions. In comments made to Mario Nawfal, a Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur, Barrack said that "in the Golan, with Syria, they (Israel) still occupy the Golan, against the UN resolutions."

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981. The UN considers the territory occupied Syrian land and regards the annexation as null and void, with UN resolutions calling for Israel's withdrawal to the June 4, 1967, line.

In March 2019, Trump signed a proclamation recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing decades of US policy. The move did not change the territory's status under international law or win broader international recognition. Colombia became the second country to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan this month, joining the United States.

Barrack's remarks sparked a backlash on Saturday from Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and ally of the US president, who posted on X that he "should resign for his lack of understanding of US foreign policy". Overall, the latest developments centred on Pezeshkian's claim that Iran had won the war and on questions raised by Barrack's comments on the Golan Heights as the US continued to intensify pressure on Tehran.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends