Iran's Khamenei Warns US of Larger Response to Any Fresh Attack

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned the US on Wednesday that any fresh military attack would trigger a far larger response, escalating rhetoric after President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered a crushing defeat in the US midterm elections. Khamenei said Iran would pursue "absolute deterrence" across all sectors, describing an "irreversible decline" in US global dominance. He claimed Washington's hostility toward Tehran would persist regardless of which party controls the US government, calling those expecting a policy shift after the midterms "greatly mistaken." Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, a major blow to Trump, who acknowledged the war and rising petrol prices contributed to Republican losses. Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf framed the defeat as Americans saying "NO TO WAR," while Trump insisted he did not regret the joint military campaign with Israel launched in February.