EASTORA REPORT | Democrats have taken control of Congress, but Iran’s supreme leader is warning Tehran not to mistake Donald Trump’s defeat for a change in America’s intentions.
In a written statement issued Wednesday, Mojtaba Khamenei dismissed the idea that the US midterm elections could open a fundamentally different chapter in relations between Washington and Tehran.
Those expecting American policy to change because one party replaces another, or believing concessions would end US hostility, were “seriously mistaken,” he said.
The warning came hours after Democrats captured both chambers of Congress, a result Iranian officials portrayed as a rejection of Trump’s war against Iran and the economic pressures it has brought American voters.
But Khamenei drew a distinction between a political defeat for Trump and a strategic change in Washington. In his account, the goal of US policy remains Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” regardless of which party holds congressional power.
He also warned that renewed American attacks would bring a wider confrontation. If aggression is repeated, he said, the war’s scope would become “much wider.”
Khamenei pointed to Iran’s actions around the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on US military bases as evidence, in his view, that American military dominance had been weakened. “The US sees the end of its hegemony as distant; we see it as near,” he said.
His message contrasted with the more celebratory reaction from Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who said American voters had effectively said “no to war.”
The statement was released on November 4, the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, as diplomatic efforts continued to prevent another round of major fighting.
The election changes who controls Congress, not who occupies the White House. Trump remains president, and the dispute over Iran’s security, sanctions and regional power remains unresolved.
In Washington, the ballot boxes delivered a rebuke to Trump. In Tehran, Khamenei’s answer was that a rebuke is not the same thing as a reversal.