Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday criticised the United States’ communication regarding the ongoing regional conflict, comparing Washington’s messaging to the discredited briefings of the Vietnam War era.In a post on X, Araghchi said, “Americans haven’t forgotten how, even as hundreds of US soldiers were dying in Vietnam, and the outcome was already clear, General William Westmoreland was flown home to reassure everyone that the war was going well — that the US was ‘winning.’The media haven’t forgotten either; those briefings full of fantasy from the frontlines became infamous as the ‘Five O’Clock Follies.’”Araghchi argued that current US messaging reflects the same detachment from reality: “Fast forward to today: same script, different stage; Hegseth steps up, and the message is still detached from reality.”

The foreign minister also claimed discrepancies between official statements and recent events on the ground. He pointed to the reported downing of an F-35 and strategic maneuvers by the USS Gerald Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln, suggesting that the conflict is far from the one-sided victory portrayed by Washington. He summarised:“US government says one thing, reality says another. Right as US authorities claim Iran’s air defences are gone, an F-35 gets hit. As they declare Iran’s navy finished, USS Gerald Ford turns back, and USS Abraham Lincoln drifts farther away. Different decade, same ‘we’re winning.’”