On September 29, President Donald Trump and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), commanded by Major General Ahmad Vahidi, each claimed victory. At the White House, Trump said Iran was “failing very badly” and the war would be “over with very, very soon.” Oil prices, he promised, would tumble back to where they had been before “that little excursion to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The same day in Tehran, Vahidi’s IRGC delivered the opposite verdict. In an open letter to the American people, it declared that “the United States and Israel have suffered a crushing defeat, while the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved a decisive victory.” After seven months of war, it wrote, the U.S. military “has scored no wins,” while Iran had won “operational control over the Strait of Hormuz.”
So, who’s right? As of now, Trump has the stronger case. But it is not quite as strong as he claims.
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