Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the United States midterm results will not change Washington’s hostile policy towards Iran. He spoke on November 4 and warned that any renewed American attack would draw a much wider Iranian response.
Khamenei’s message set the tone for Tehran’s official reaction to a Democratic sweep. The sweep cost President Donald Trump control of Congress.
It signalled that Iran expects no relief from American pressure, even as talks continue to prevent renewed fighting.
Khamenei dismissed the idea that a change in the party balance in Washington will change American policy towards Iran. He called that idea ‘greatly mistaken,’ according to Reuters.
Khamenei said the path to what he called ‘absolute deterrence’ lay in building an even more powerful Iran, Reuters reported. He added that the United States saw the end of its dominance as distant, while Iran saw it as near.
He warned that Iran would answer any renewed American attack on a much greater scale, according to the report. His message came on November 4, the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran.
Iran marks the date as the National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf read the election result as a rejection of war by American voters. ‘Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,’ he wrote on X on Wednesday.
The Associated Press reported his post.
In Tuesday’s vote, the Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump congratulated the Democrats after the sweep and warned that he would use his veto power, according to Sial News’ earlier report.
Rally, strikes and talks
Thousands of people marched in Tehran on Wednesday in a government-organised rally, the AP reported. Some protesters burned American and Israeli flags and chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel,’ according to the report.
The elections came a day after a limited American strike on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. The AP cited Iranian state media for the strike.
Iranian state media reported explosions on Monday on Qeshm and Hengam islands, near the port of Bandar Abbas. Iranian authorities did not identify the sites or the damage, the report said.
Talks are continuing to prevent renewed fighting, with Qatar, Russia and China acting as mediators, according to the AP. Iranian officials said they had sent a message to the United States through intermediaries, the report said.
Khamenei’s remarks and Ghalibaf’s message confirm Tehran’s public position after the midterm vote. The reports also gave no date for a next round of talks.
They also reported no change in American policy towards Iran since the vote.
