Iran leaders frame U.S. midterms as rejection of war

Iranian officials declared on Wednesday that U.S. voters rejected President Donald Trump’s war effort in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The results gave Democrats control of both chambers of Congress, a shift driven partly by frustration over rising fuel and food prices. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who took office after his father was killed in the war’s opening strikes in February, warned against expecting a major change in U.S. policy.

“If there are still those who harbor even a slight hope for a change in behavior or partisan and factional shifts within the system of domination, or who imagine that by giving concessions to America they can dissuade it from hostility toward the Iranian nation, they are gravely mistaken,” Khamenei posted on social media.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, wrote on X that Americans said “NO TO WAR.” He cautioned that if the U.S. government ignores the vote, “it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.” The Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that ignoring the election results would lead to consequences extending beyond what has already been witnessed.

Thousands of pro-government demonstrators marched through Tehran on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy. Participants burned American and Israeli flags, chanted “Death to America,” and held effigies of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The conflict, which began on Feb. 28 with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes, has disrupted global energy markets and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday that he and Trump feel optimistic about a negotiated settlement, even as thousands of troops maintain a naval blockade off Iran’s coast.

Limited strikes on Qeshm and Hengam islands and near Bandar Abbas occurred Monday, one day before the election. Iranian state TV reported that four oil tankers caught fire after striking mines on unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carried about a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas before the war.