Iran has proven itself a "tough and invincible power" against pressure from the US and Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday.
Takign a swpie at President Donald Trump, he added that Washington had gone from demanding surrender to seeking negotiations within weeks of the war beginning, reported Iran's Tasnim news agency.
Speaking at a televised press conference, Araghchi said foreign diplomats had repeatedly told him Iran's resistance came as a surprise to the world.
"I have heard this many times from foreign ministers and officials from other countries: 'You Iranians created a miracle; you surprised the whole world,'" he said, according to the report. "No one thought that Iran could resist America like this."
The Iranian minister said US President Donald Trump's messaging had shifted sharply over the course of the conflict, which began on February 28.
"The US president wrote two words on social media at the beginning of the war: 'Unconditional surrender.' That was what they wanted from us and, 20 days later, the same enemy was begging for negotiations," Araghchi said.
Araghchi's remarks came as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted, a factor that continued to push global oil prices higher as Trump appears to have settled into a posture of economic pressure rather than military escalation, having said on Sunday that Washington was only "semi-negotiating" with Iran while it grappled with high inflation and depleted finances.
Trump also reportedly had held off further strikes partly due to depleted US air defence stocks and fears of wider Iranian retaliation.
Iranian officials have maintained that the Strait of Hormuz will remain largely closed until the US meets conditions including lifting sanctions, ending its blockade of Iranian ports, and a ceasefire in Lebanon, largely mirroring terms of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June.
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