Iran’s president says the world has accepted that it’s won the war with the United States, while remarks by the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria appear to contradict official US position over the Golan Heights. Iranian state media reported on Friday that President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the US should end, as the world has already accepted that Iran has won, per the AP. “The entire world approved our victory and the US is hated,” he said according to the IRNA news agency. The remarks came as the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Iran, promising an “economic D-Day” against the country.
US President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria appears to contradict official US position on the Golan Heights. In an interview on Friday, Tom Barrack said that Israel “still” occupies the territory in violation of 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 the annexation null and void, with UN resolutions calling for Israel’s withdrawal to the line from June 4, 1967. In March 2019, Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing decades of US policy.
The move didn’t change the territory’s status under international law or win broader international recognition. Colombia became the second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights this month, joining the United States. Barrack’s remarks sparked a backlash Saturday from conservative activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who posted on X that Barrack “should resign for his lack of understanding of US foreign policy.”