Iran Calls GOP Midterm Defeat a 'No to War' Vote — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Iran’s chief negotiator said Americans had “said NO TO WAR” after Trump’s Republican Party suffered a “stunning defeat” in the midterms; Ghalibaf endorsed the message and warned that betraying the public’s will would bring a “Nightmare.”
- Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that poor Republican congressional results were partly caused by the war and a surge in petrol prices, while saying he did not regret launching the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran in February.
- Trump said the conflict would end “when I say it ends”; asked about hints of another Israeli attack, he said the U.S. and Israel were “locked and loaded if we need to go,” though there might be no need.
- Khamenei said he did not expect U.S. policy to change after the midterms and called anyone who expected a change “gravely mistaken”; he has not been seen in public since the war began.
- Pezeshkian said his government had pursued dialogue and that Khamenei had granted powers to negotiate issues previously considered off-limits; he warned that no one would benefit if the war resumed.
- Baqai said the Qatar-mediated indirect talks still rested on Iran’s seven-step proposal from September, condensed enough to implement “within two days.”
- IRGC claimed on Wednesday that four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz and that two additional tankers were intercepted; BBC Verify found no evidence that four tankers were destroyed.
Why it matters: For Iran, the Republican defeat strengthens its public argument that the war turned voters away, while Trump’s explanation narrows the result to petrol-price pain. Iran’s seven-step Qatar proposal, said to be implementable within two days, offers the clearest stated measure for negotiations, even as the Supreme Leader says U.S. policy will not change.
Ask SkimNews
