Iran Declares US Midterm Results a Victory, Warns of Escalation

Iran declared the Republican defeat in the US midterm elections a victory for itself, warning of potential further attacks and escalation if Washington resumes aggression. Tehran maintained a hardline stance, asserting US policy toward Iran would not change despite Democratic control of Congress. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X that Iranians inflicted strategic defeat on Trump both on the battlefield and in the Strait of Hormuz, plus political defeat in Washington. He warned that anyone confronting Iran would pay a heavy price from the battlefield to their own homes. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei dismissed hopes that partisan shifts in the US would alter behavior, saying repeated aggression would trigger a much broader war and that Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz were only initial steps. Iranian officials interpreted the election as anti-war sentiment, with thousands rallying in Tehran to burn US and Israeli flags.