New Delhi: Mocking US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington was close to brokering a peace deal with Tehran, Iranian state media has said that his
remarks were unrealistic.
Invoking a Persian proverb
Sharing a clip of Trump’s recent remarks on its official X account, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state broadcaster, alleged that he was “building castles in the air”. It also highlighted a Persian proverb, “The camel dreams of cottonseed, sometimes gulping it down, sometimes eating it grain by grain.” The proverb was mentioned to suggest that that Trump’s desires or dreams were far from reality.
The response came after Trump claimed that the US and Iran were “very close” to arriving at an agreement following weeks of war. Speaking at the White House, he said Tehran had agreed to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium—describing it as “nuclear dust”, and pointed out that Iran had “agreed to almost everything”.
Building castles in the air!
Or in Persian we have a similar proverb:
‘The camel dreams of cottonseed; sometimes gulping it down, sometimes eating it grain by grain!’شتر در خواب بیند پنبهدانه
گهی لپلپ خورد گه دانه دانه pic.twitter.com/HA15h1aQVU— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) April 16, 2026
Trump could travel to Pakistan
Trump also dropped hints that he may travel to Pakistan if an agreement is finalised there, and maintained that Washington was close to a breakthrough in talks with Tehran.
Trump’s remarks came amid meeting of Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, in Tehran. The meeting was a part of Pakistan’s effort to bring about a peace deal between the US and Iran. Ghalibaf had headed the Iranian delegation at the first round of talks last week, which ended in a near deadlock.
‘Victory very shortly’
As uncertainty looms over negotiations, Trump has also said that the US was inching towards “victory very shortly” against Iran, while attributing recent military missions for weakening Tehran’s capabilities.
“We have a very good relationship with Iran right now, as hard as it is to believe,” he said. “And I think it’s a combination of about four weeks of bombing, and a very powerful blockade.”
The US President also asserted that Iran’s military power had been markedly reduced. “And I said, we’re in there for two months, and you know what? We’re gonna have victory very shortly,” Trump emphasised.
