Iran celebrates Democrats’ midterm wins, takes credit for Republican losses

Top Iranian official calls Republicans’ midterm losses a “political defeat” handed to President Trump by Tehran.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Senior Iranian officials celebrated the Democratic Party’s sweeping victories in Tuesday’s US midterm elections, claiming that Tehran had helped bring about President Donald Trump’s political defeat and portraying the Republican losses as a victory for the Islamic Republic.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, declared Wednesday that Iran had inflicted both military and political defeats on Trump, pointing to the election results as evidence of the consequences of Washington’s war against Tehran.

“The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz — and a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington,” Rezaei wrote on X.

He added that American taxpayers had been left to bear the financial costs of the conflict and warned that countries confronting Iran would face consequences extending beyond the battlefield.

“Meanwhile, Americans got stuck with the bill for his war. Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price—from the battlefield to their own doorstep.”

Rezaei’s remarks came after Democrats captured control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, winning Senate and House races across traditionally Republican states amid widespread dissatisfaction with the war in Iran and rising living costs.

Other senior Iranian officials joined in celebrating the results, portraying the Democratic victories as a repudiation of Trump’s foreign policy and a vindication of Tehran’s resistance to American military pressure.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has played a leading role in negotiations with Washington, said the election demonstrated that American voters had rejected the war.

“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.

He warned that the American government would face further consequences if it disregarded the electorate’s opposition to the conflict in favor of foreign interests.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, also welcomed the results, declaring that “The process of the US’s collapse has accelerated.”

Meanwhile, Iranian judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said Trump had suffered defeats in both the military and political arenas and predicted further setbacks for Washington.

The Iranian reactions followed a public statement by Vice President JD Vance directly attributing the Republican Party’s electoral defeat to the administration’s war against Iran.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote Wednesday on X.

The vice president said Republican polling had shown that significant numbers of voters who supported Trump in 2024 abandoned the party because of the war, its economic consequences and dissatisfaction with Washington’s relationship with Israel.

Trump subsequently acknowledged that the Iran war had contributed to the Republican losses, particularly because of its impact on gasoline prices.

“I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short term,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.

Nevertheless, the president defended his decision to launch the military campaign.

“The Iran thing, we had to do and we continue to do it,” he said.

The US and Israel launched joint military strikes against Iran on February 28, triggering a prolonged regional conflict that disrupted international shipping, drove up energy prices and placed growing pressure on the American economy.

Although a ceasefire was reached in April, hostilities resumed in July, and negotiations aimed at ending the conflict have repeatedly stalled.

Iranian officials have sought to portray the conflict as a strategic victory for Tehran, citing the economic disruption caused by restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the growing political opposition to the war in the United States.

The Democratic victories could constrain Trump’s ability to pursue further military action against Iran, with the incoming congressional majority preparing to exercise greater oversight of the administration and potentially challenge funding for continued operations.

Despite the celebrations in Tehran, US officials have indicated that additional military operations against Iran remain under consideration.

The administration is reportedly weighing renewed strikes alongside continued economic pressure and diplomatic efforts to secure an agreement with the Iranian government.