Iran: Between satisfaction and skepticism following the US

Iran: Between Satisfaction and Skepticism After Midterms November 5, 2026 The Republican Party's defeats in the US midterm elections will not change the USA's hostility toward Iran, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei, stated in a written message. "Those who still harbor hope for a change in behavior or for shifts in party and factional majorities within the US system of governance, or who believe that concessions could dissuade America from its hostility toward the Iranian nation, are gravely mistaken," the message continues. The impact will be more extensive. "Iran will not change its position now just because the Republicans have lost their majority," Mohammad Sadegh Javadi Hesar, a journalist and member of the reformist Etemad-e Melli party, told Deutsche Welle. Hesar has already been arrested several times due to his critical stance. "The decision on how to end this conflict will be made in the USA, and Iran will continue to insist on its demands," he explained. "A Regime Change in the USA" Iran's Speaker of Parliament and chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, interpreted the election results as a sign that the US population rejects the war. "Americans have said no to war," he wrote on the platform X. "And we support this message." Ghalibaf attributed the election result to both matters of conscience and the rising cost of living in the USA. Mohsen Rezaee, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also views the election results as a political defeat for Trump. The Iranian nation has dealt the US President a strategic defeat not only on the battlefield and in the Strait of Hormuz, but also in Washington, he wrote on X. At the same time, he emphasized that the American people must now bear the cost of the war. "Whoever picks a fight with Iran will pay the price—from the battlefield to their own front door," Rezaee wrote. In US President Trump's view, the goal of the war was regime change in Iran. "Regime change has taken place, but in America," the Iranian news portal Etelaat Online writes cynically. The website belongs to the newspaper Etelaat, the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Iran, founded in 1926. Under the headline "The Dilemma Between War and an Agreement with Iran After Trump's Election Defeat," the portal raises the question of whether the US President will continue to rely on military force or attempt to resolve the deadlock through economic pressure and diplomatic negotiations. A Historical Parallel: Carter and Trump The Mehr News Agency (MNA), which is under the Iranian Organization for Islamic Propaganda (Sazman-e Tablighat-e Eslami), draws a historical parallel in its reporting between the election defeat of US President Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump's political situation. The article recalls the hostage crisis during Carter's presidency. In 1979, revolutionary Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took dozens of American citizens hostage. It was not until April 1980 that the Carter administration attempted to rescue the hostages with a military operation. However, the action failed. In November 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Ronald Reagan. "The failure of the military operation back then showed that America's military means were unable to resolve the crisis," the article states. "No Difference Between Elephants and Donkeys" The news agency Tasnim, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, emphasizes the position of the hardliners in its reporting: "There is no difference between elephants and donkeys," one article reads. Both animals are symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties of the USA. Trump's election defeat is, at the same time, his personal defeat as a result of the war against Iran. The agency summarizes the relationship between the two US parties with a Persian proverb: "The yellow dog is the brother of the jackal." This means that both parties take similar positions in their course toward Iran or other so-called rogue states. Power Shifts with Global Consequences "The USA is a superpower and a hegemonic power. Therefore, developments in this country are significant for the entire world—from Mexico and Canada to the European Union, China, and of course the Middle East," Hossein Alizadeh told Deutsche Welle. The international relations expert and political analyst served in the diplomatic service of the Islamic Republic for 22 years. In September 2010, he resigned from his job in protest against the regime and has since lived in exile in Finland. Alizadeh considers further large-scale military escalation by the USA unlikely. While the Democrats are also opponents of the Islamic Republic, "unlike the Trump administration, they have bet on a diplomatic agreement with Tehran," Alizadeh emphasizes. Under the Democratic presidency of Barack Obama, a nuclear deal was reached in 2015 that placed Iranian nuclear activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Donald Trump, however, unilaterally withdrew from this agreement during his first term. Neither the Democrats nor the allies of the USA would have supported a war against Iran. Rather, they warned of the possible consequences, says expert Alizadeh. "The negative effects of the war have already become apparent." Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the most important route for the global oil trade. The entire world is suffering from rising gasoline prices and an energy crisis. "However, it is difficult to predict how the situation will develop in the coming days."