TEHRAN, November 5 (Aalimi Nation) – Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has said that anyone expecting a change in United States policy after the American midterm elections is "seriously mistaken", as Tehran and Washington trade warnings over the war that began in February.
The statement was published on Khamenei's website on Wednesday, November 4, hours after the elections went badly for President Donald Trump's Republican Party. Democrats took control of Congress in the vote held on Tuesday, November 3.
Khamenei said those who hope for change in what he called the "hegemonic system" through shifts between political parties, or who believe that concessions can reduce American hostility, are "seriously mistaken". He also warned: "Should such aggressions be repeated, the war's scope will become much wider."
The war began on February 28. Khamenei took over as supreme leader in March and has not appeared in public since, so written statements have been the main channel for his views. Diplomatic efforts are under way to prevent renewed fighting.
Other senior Iranian figures welcomed the election outcome. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker who leads Iran's negotiations with Washington, wrote on X: "Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message." He added that if the US government betrays the will of its public, "it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare."
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran's judiciary, said Trump had been "defeated both militarily and politically" and added, "We will certainly inflict further defeats on him." Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the supreme leader, said Trump had been "slapped in the face by his own people".
At a rally in Bandar Abbas, Hamidreza Moghadamfar, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iran would strike targets beyond American bases if Gulf states allowed Washington to launch attacks from their territory. He named the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. No Gulf government was quoted in response.
Trump has acknowledged that the war may have hurt his party. In a television interview he said, "I think it's the gasoline prices".
In a separate interview, Trump said: "I'm ready, we're ready. We're locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it." The United States has said it could carry out a short but intensive military campaign against Iran after the midterms.
Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft said the Democratic victory could raise the short-term risk of escalation, because Trump may seek to respond to a setback. He described the weeks before Democrats formally take over Congress in January as potentially "a very dangerous period for the next two months".
The new Congress will be sworn in in less than two months. Whether the diplomatic channel that Ghalibaf leads can prevent a fresh round of strikes remains unclear, and neither government has announced a date for further talks.
