Iran President Urges End to War while Refusing to Call Defeat

Iran's president urged an end to the war with the US, in his latest pushback against hardliners who want to continue the conflict.

"It would be better to end the war today, when we have power and dignity, and with the whole world acknowledging our victory," Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency.

Pezeshkian is Iran's top elected leader, but his responsibilities are mostly limited to domestic economic policy. 

Oil prices dipped from session highs on Friday after Pezeshkian's comments, before quickly recovering gains. Brent crude is trading around $94 a barrel. 

Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have been vocal advocates of ending the war through diplomacy and prioritizing economic recovery since the signing of a now-collapsed ceasefire. 

His comments come as the conflict shows no sign of a quick resolution and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to unveil plans to economically isolate Iran and its trading partners.

The standoff has exacerbated inflation in Iran and sent the country's currency to record lows against the dollar.

Other Iranian officials, including some in the nation's powerful military leadership, have argued that Iran is winning and should continue the fight that began in late February when the US and Israel began their bombing campaign.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has shifted to an "offensive doctrine," with several military appointments intended to support fighting in "enemy territory," a senior official said last week.