Iran's Parliament Speaker Says Americans Voted 'NO TO WAR' as Democrats Win Congress

Iran's speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said American voters have said "NO TO WAR," pointing to midterm election projections showing Democrats flipping both chambers of Congress.

In a post on X after projections gave Democrats House and Senate majorities for the next two years, Ghalibaf wrote that "Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message." He added a warning: "If the [U.S. government] betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare."

The X account of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, weighed in as well, declaring that "The process of the US's collapse has accelerated." The account went on to say that anyone still hoping the hegemonic system might change its behavior, or that shifts between U.S. political parties or concessions to Washington could end its hostility, is gravely mistaken.

On Saturday, Khamenei had called on Tehran's armed forces to answer "any level or type of threat" with "an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response."

The Iran war loomed large over the midterms. President Donald Trump launched joint strikes with Israel against the Islamic Republic in February, and the conflict has driven energy prices higher across the United States, feeding concerns about the cost of living.

Trump himself has partly blamed the war for the Democratic sweep of both chambers. Asked whether the conflict contributed to Republican losses, he told the Wall Street Journal that "Iran was a piece of it."

Even so, the president stood by the decision to go to war. "I don't think about it. I did the right thing. I would have done it again," he said.

Washington has not explicitly said it intends to strike Iran again, but reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times indicate the United States is preparing for possible renewed military action after the midterms.

With their incoming majorities, Democrats may be able to pass a War Powers Resolution directing Trump to end the conflict with Iran unless Congress authorizes it. In June, when Republicans still controlled both chambers, they passed a concurrent resolution to end the war, though such a measure is not binding and lacks the force of law. Earlier efforts to impose a binding War Powers Resolution failed.