Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and the nation’s lead diplomatic representative, declared on Sunday that Tehran has secured a dual military and political triumph, asserting that the US and Israel were unsuccessful in accomplishing their goals.
“I say with complete conviction that we won this war, both militarily and politically," Ghalibaf stated. “The United States and Israel attacked us with nine specific objectives, but they failed to achieve any of them."
He clarified that this outcome does not imply the physical destruction of the American armed forces, but rather reflects the inability of the US and Israel to reach their targets.
“The United States and Israel failed to achieve any of their nine stated objectives, and that was their greatest defeat," Ghalibaf claimed.
Serving as Iran’s top representative in diplomatic engagements with Washington, Ghalibaf hailed the bilateral memorandum of understanding between the two nations as “a document of pride and of our victory on the diplomatic front."
He acknowledged that the Iranian public has not fully recognized the magnitude of the outcome, adding that citizens deserve to take pride in what he characterized as a “glorious victory."
These remarks were made following statements by President Donald Trump during a Friday rally on Long Island, where the president voiced plans to claim American jurisdiction over the strategic waterway.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States," Trump told the crowd.
Addressing the condition of Iran's political leadership, Trump remarked that the nation has “no leadership. Their leadership is gone. Their second tier is gone. The third tier is half gone. That’s one of my problems, that there is nobody to negotiate with. It's a problem. It's the only country in the world where nobody wants to be president."
In response to Trump's public remarks, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, insisted that Tehran holds exclusive command over transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Gharibabadi stated that the naval blockade enforced by Iran will persist until Washington acknowledges its "strategic defeat".
Rebutting Trump's statements on social media, Gharibabadi posted, “Once and for all, accept the reality: up to this point, you have suffered strategic and heavy defeats; the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian."
The diplomat continued, “This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and cease your fanciful delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade."
On Saturday, a prominent Iranian legislator warned Trump while poking fun at a recent security precaution where the American president was transported between aircraft in a catering van amid safety concerns.
“The US President ought to worry about his own security rather than his endless bluffing regarding the Strait of Hormuz; before he ends up hiding in a food truck," wrote Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Commission, on social media.