Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said that anyone expecting a shift in the United States’ policy towards his country is “seriously mistaken”, hours after midterm elections dealt a blow to President Donald Trump.
asserted
elections → say → Trump
His comments came as other Iranian officials struck a more optimistic tone on Wednesday, following the results of the US vote, which saw Democrats score a major victory by taking control of both chambers of Congress.
asserted
Democrats → come → Congress
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Iran commander sets out five conditions for regional security
- list 2 of 3Iran says US reply to Hormuz plan ‘unconvincing’; Trump confirms strikes
- list 3 of 3Who determines Iran’s fighting and negotiating position amid US threats?
asserted
3Who → set → threats
“Those who still harbour even the slightest hope that the behaviour of the hegemonic system might change through partisan or factional shifts, or who imagine that making concessions to the United States can dissuade it from hostility towards the Iranian nation, are seriously mistaken,” Khamenei said in a written statement published on his website.
uncertain
Khamenei → harbour → website
He said that Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz had shattered the “myth of America’s invincibility”, and warned that any renewed US attack would draw a far wider response.
asserted
attack → say → response
Trump himself has acknowledged the US-Israel war on Iran that began in February likely impacted his Republican Party’s poor performance in the elections, saying voters were probably not ready “for the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline”.
asserted
voters → acknowledge → gasoline
Khamenei said Iran’s confrontation with the US had reached a point where “every day and every hour” had become a time of resistance against “the Great Satan”.
asserted
day → say → Satan
His message was to mark the National Day of the Fight Against Global Arrogance, which falls each year on November 4, the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.
asserted
which → mark → Tehran
The supreme leader described Iran’s management of the strait and what he called the elimination of US military bases in regional countries as a reaction to US “aggression and crimes” during the war.
asserted
he → describe → war
“In the event of repeated transgressions, it will take on much wider dimensions,” he said.
asserted
he → repeat → dimensions
‘Americans said NO TO WAR’
asserted
Americans → say → WAR
The supreme leader struck a “cautious” note on Wednesday, warning that a party shift in the US would not persuade Washington to abandon its hostility against Iran, noted Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas, reporting from Tehran.
asserted
Atas → strike → Tehran
This contrasted with a more celebratory mood among other Iranian officials reacting to the Republican defeat, Atas said.
asserted
Atas → contrast → defeat
“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator with Washington and his country’s parliament speaker.
asserted
Ghalibaf → say → Washington
“If the US [government] betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare,” he added on X.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser and assistant to the supreme leader, said Trump had been “slapped in the face by his own people”.
asserted
Trump → betray → people
“The true winner in this arena was Iran, which transferred the cost of the war into the United States,” he wrote on X.
Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote on Telegram: “Trump was defeated both in war and in politics; we will certainly impose further defeats on him; this is still only the early outcome.”
asserted
this → transfer → him
He added that November 4 “has always been a day of defeat for the Americans” and honoured “the dear martyred students of Minab”.
asserted
November → add → Minab
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy head for communications at the president’s office, said Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, “blind adherence” to Israel’s interests and the “futile war” with Iran had handed the Republicans their biggest defeat.
asserted
war → say → defeat
Atas said Iranians believe a Democratic-controlled Congress could restrain Trump and make him “less reckless” over the war, with some Republicans wary ahead of the 2028 elections.
uncertain
Republicans → say → elections
But some in Tehran fear that because officials have framed the result as a defeat imposed by Iran, Trump could “personalise the matter” and launch a new round of war “in an act of revenge”.
uncertain
Trump → fear → revenge
The US has warned it could carry out a short but intensive military campaign against Iran after the midterms.
uncertain
it → warn → midterms
Hamidreza Moghadamfar, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Iran would hit targets beyond US bases if Gulf states allowed Washington to launch attacks from their territory.
asserted
Washington → say → territory
Speaking at a rally in Bandar Abbas, he named the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and said Iran would respond with a “new doctrine and new technology”.
asserted
Iran → speak → doctrine
The Aporia
