The speaker of the Iranian parliament and Tehran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, struck a triumphant tone as he claimed that the United States and Israel had failed to achieve the objectives they set at the outset of the war with Iran. “This was the greatest and most absolute failure,” he declared on Sunday at a media event broadcast by Reuters from the Iranian parliament.
Qalibaf sought to frame the conflict’s trajectory as a clear strategic victory for Tehran, arguing that Iran had successfully neutralized its adversaries’ plans. “I declare with all my heart that we won this war,” he said emphatically. He did not, however, specify exactly which goals he believed the US and Israel had failed to accomplish.
US-Iran conflict: What Tehran is trying to achieve
The Trump administration had at various points set the bar extremely high, listing among its objectives the full capitulation of Iran — and even regime change — along with preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and ending its support for proxy organizations across the Middle East, such as Hezbollah.
With the conflict dragging on and none of those goals fully realized, Tehran is now attempting to recast the stalemate as a political narrative of victory against both the US and Israel.
