World
Iran Celebrates US Midterm Losses While Supreme Leader Warns No Policy Shift
Iranian officials welcomed the Republican losses in the U.S. midterm elections, seeing the results as a positive development, while Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that a change in U.S. policy toward Iran is unlikely. Khamenei issued a written statement on his website, saying that those who hope the U.S. will alter its behaviour through partisan or factional changes are “seriously mistaken.” He added that Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz has shattered the “myth of America’s invincibility” and warned that any renewed U.S. attack would provoke a wider response.
The U.S. elections saw Democrats take control of both houses of Congress, a shift that Trump himself suggested may have contributed to his party’s poor performance, citing voters’ unwillingness to pay higher gasoline prices.
Khamenei marked the National Day of the Fight Against Global Arrogance, which falls on November 4, the anniversary of the 1979 U.S. embassy seizure in Tehran. He described Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of U.S. military bases in regional countries as responses to U.S. aggression and crimes during the conflict. He warned that repeated transgressions would “take on much wider dimensions.”
In contrast, other Iranian officials expressed a more celebratory tone. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator with Washington and parliament speaker, said Americans had said “NO TO WAR” and that Iran endorsed that message. He added that if the U.S. government betrays its public will, it will learn that Iran’s “NO” comes with a nightmare.
Adviser Mohammad Mokhber said Trump had been “slapped in the face by his own people” and that Iran had transferred the cost of the war to the United States. Judiciary chief Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni‑Ejei wrote that Trump had been defeated both in war and politics and that further defeats would follow. He noted that November 4 has always been a day of defeat for Americans and honored the martyred students of Minab.
Deputy head for communications Mehdi Tabatabaei blamed Israel’s war on Gaza and the “futile war” with Iran for the Republicans’ biggest defeat. Some in Tehran believe a Democratic‑controlled Congress could restrain Trump and make him less reckless, but officials fear that Trump might personalize the matter and launch a new round of war in retaliation.
The U.S. has warned it could carry out a short but intensive military campaign against Iran after the midterms. Adviser Hamidreza Moghadamfar of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iran would hit targets beyond U.S. bases if Gulf states allowed Washington to launch attacks from their territory. Speaking at a rally in Bandar Abbas, he named the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and said Iran would respond with a “new doctrine and new technology.”
Frequently asked questions
What did Iranian officials say about the U.S. midterm election results?
They welcomed the Republican losses, seeing the results as a positive development.
What did Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei say about U.S. policy toward Iran?
He said a change in U.S. policy is unlikely and warned that those hoping for change through partisan shifts are “seriously mistaken.”
What was the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections?
Democrats took control of both houses of Congress.