Iran's leadership has downplayed the significance of Republican setbacks in the US midterm elections, insisting that the Democratic takeover of Congress is unlikely to alter Washington's policy toward the Islamic Republic. "If there are still those who believe that America can be persuaded to abandon its hostility toward the Iranian nation through concessions or partisan changes in the US political system, they are gravely mistaken," Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement after the vote. Khamenei also warned that Tehran would respond more forcefully to any future US military action.
The elections took place after months of military confrontation between Tehran and Washington, which disrupted global energy markets and raised fears of a broader regional conflict. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Mohammad Sadegh Javadi Hesar, Iran-based journalist and member of the reformist party Etemad-e Melli, said the election outcome was unlikely to affect Iran's calculations. "Iran will not change its position simply because Republicans have lost their majority," he told DW.
According to Javadi Hesar, decisions about ending the conflict will ultimately be made in Washington. Tehran, in turn, is expected to continue insisting on its previous demands for peace, such as the end of all hostilities, including in Lebanon, and the lifting of US naval blockade. Others in Iran interpreted the results more positively.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf argued that American voters had delivered their verdict on the Iranian conflict. "The Americans said no to war," Ghalibaf said on X, while acknowledging that rising cost of living also contributed to Donald Trump's party losing the election. Ghalibaf also mocked US Vice President JD Vance who had acknowledged that the Iran war was the reason the Republicans lost.
Why not say this to your boss?" Ghalibaf wrote on X. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran not only challenged the United States on the battlefield and in the Strait of Hormuz but had also dealt it a political setback in Washington. Several Iranian media outlets echoed that assessment.
The news website Etelaat Online sarcastically suggested that the long-discussed "regime change" had ultimately taken place not in Iran, but in the United States. Some commentators drew historical parallels to another period of US-Iran tension. The state-affiliated Mehr News Agency compared Trump's political troubles to those of former US President Jimmy Carter, recalling the failed 1980 American military operation to rescue hostages held in Tehran.
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