Dubai | Iran's president says the world has accepted that it's won the war with the United States and remarks by the US Ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria appear to contradict official US position over the Golan Heights.
Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Saturday. Full coverage can be found here.
Iran's President says the world has accepted that Iran won the war
Iranian state media reported Friday that President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the US should end since the world has already accepted that Iran has won.
"The entire world approved our victory and the US is hated," he said according to 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.
President Donald Trump announced that the US 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.
US Ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria appears to contradict official US position on the Golan Heights
In an interview Friday, Tom Barrack said that Israel "still" occupies the territory in violation of UN resolutions.
In his 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 the annexation 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 Saturday from conservative activist and US presidential ally Laura Loomer, who posted on X that he "should resign for his lack of understanding of US foreign policy."