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Iran's parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Sunday that the United States and Israel "failed to achieve" any of the objectives they set at the start of their war with Iran, calling it "the greatest absolute defeat" for Washington and Tel Aviv.
"I say with all my heart that we have truly won this war," Ghalibaf said at a media event in Tehran marking Journalists' Day, according to SNN TV.
Speaking from Iran's parliament, Ghalibaf said the country had been engaged in "an unfair war" led by the United States and "the Zionist regime," but that the Iranian people "stood and fought courageously, manfully and sincerely."
He said he was speaking "with my whole being" in stating that Iran had achieved a real victory in both the military and political dimensions of the war, according to a post on his Telegram channel.
Ghalibaf said he did not mean Iran had destroyed the U.S. and Israeli militaries, but rather that the U.S. and Israel had attacked Iran with "nine specific, officially declared, written and repeatedly stated objectives" and failed to achieve any of them at any level.
"This was the biggest and most absolute failure of America and the Zionist regime, and a great victory for us," he said.
He did not specify what those nine objectives were, though the U.S. had previously said its goals in the war included regime change, ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and ending Tehran's backing for proxy groups such as Hezbollah.
Ghalibaf also described the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Iran and the U.S. as "a document of honor and victory" that consolidated Iran's diplomatic success following its military one.
He credited the outcome to what he called the mobilization of the Iranian people, saying a "hardcore" of 90 million Iranians of every background, religion and ethnicity had defended the Islamic Republic, its territory and its revolution "in an honorable manner."
Ghalibaf said he believed the Iranian public had not fully experienced the sense of the victory he described, saying officials had in some cases failed to properly convey it.
"When people ask what actually happened, it means we have not been able to narrate this great victory in the way it should be narrated, so that this sense of pride can take shape in the minds of all the people, the resistance front and freedom-seekers around the world," he said.
He said storytelling and narration were the work of journalists, and that "the whole world was talking about Iran's victory, but domestically we were not able to narrate this great victory as it should have been narrated."
He said the Iranian people "have the right to enjoy this honorable victory," adding that history would ultimately judge the matter.
Ghalibaf credited Iran's "martyrs" and the country's "martyred imam", an apparent reference to Iran's slain former supreme leader, with the victory, saying the late leader had taught the values of "thought, democracy, anti-arrogance and service to the people."
Ghalibaf said the volume of firepower the "enemy" used against Iran exceeded what was used during the Vietnam War, but that the Iranian people stood firm and "nothing happened."
He said Iran needed to reach a level of deterrence that would keep it out of a cycle of war, peace and attrition, and that the country "must be set on a path toward stability."
Separately, former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Sunday that high-level strategy meetings are underway within the U.S. government to discuss the potential use of nuclear weapons against Iran.
"I'm not speculating, I know. And it's pure evil," Greene wrote on X.
She did not provide evidence to substantiate the claim.
Greene alleged the U.S. government was considering lowering the threshold for nuclear weapons use, despite President Donald Trump's repeated claims of victory in the war and assertions that Washington controls the Strait of Hormuz.
She accused the administration of disregarding internal intelligence assessments suggesting Tehran was not close to developing a nuclear weapon and instead favoring Israeli claims to the contrary.
Greene argued the military campaign had caused widespread civilian suffering and led to Iranian control over regional energy corridors.
She warned that further escalation could trigger a global "nuclear holocaust," leading to an economic depression and unprecedented casualties. "America is not untouchable," Greene said, urging the public to stop what she called the "insanity," and adding that current leaders would be held responsible by history if a nuclear conflict occurred.
The U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, with Tehran launching retaliatory strikes targeting countries hosting U.S. military assets across the region.
Iran and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire in April and subsequently signed a MoU in June aimed at ending their military conflict and reaching a lasting peace agreement.
The deal collapsed last month, with Tehran and Washington exchanging attacks for nearly two weeks before Trump abruptly halted the bombardment amid efforts to revive the agreement.
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