TEHRAN– Iran perceives itself as winning the ongoing conflict with the United States, and President Trump's failure to recognize this reality suggests he is "more clueless than I thought," according to Daniel DePetris, a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

In a post on X, DePetris argued that negotiating positions are largely shaped by facts on the ground. Having survived weeks of US airstrikes, successfully leveraging the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic card, and witnessing Trump's approval ratings plummet, Tehran firmly believes it has the upper hand.

"I suspect Trump will take the wrong lesson out of this experience," DePetris wrote, predicting that the president will choose yet again to increase military and economic pressure on Iran rather than re-evaluate his own negotiating stance.

The columnist noted that every additional crank of the pressure valve has so far failed to move Tehran significantly.

"This war is a disaster in more ways than one," he concluded. "And the powers-that-be don't know what they don't know."