Tehran Declares American Voters Have Voted to End the War

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared on Wednesday that U.S. voters had rejected President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, a stance that contrasts with his earlier dismissal of potential shifts in American policy. The new supreme leader, who took power after his father was killed in the opening strikes of the conflict in February, posted on social media that those hoping for a change in U.S. behavior through domestic political shifts are gravely mistaken. He argued that giving concessions to America will not dissuade it from its hostility toward the Iranian nation.

The defiant tone in Tehran followed Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. The victory represented a sharp setback for Trump and the Republican Party, driven largely by voter frustration over rising fuel prices and the economic cost of the war. Iranian leaders moved quickly to frame the result as a direct rebuke of the military campaign that has raged for more than eight months.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, endorsed the message on X, writing that Americans said no to war. He warned that if the U.S. government ignores the vote for change, it will learn that Iran’s no comes with a nightmare. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson issued a similar warning, stating that the consequences of ignoring the American message would extend far beyond what has already been witnessed.

Thousands of people marched through Tehran on Wednesday for a government-organized demonstration commemorating the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy. Pro-government demonstrators burned American and Israeli flags and chanted slogans including Death to America and Death to Israel. They displayed effigies of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside caricatures of the two leaders. Hananeh Jahed, a demonstrator, stated that Trump had gone too far in everything, citing that as one reason for his election defeat.

Zahra Nadiminejad, another participant, said U.S. voters finally figured out that Iran would not allow outsiders to do whatever they wanted. She noted that Americans have seen the consequences of the war at home, from skyrocketing gas and food prices to other devastating effects. She asserted that whether Democrats or Republicans win, Iranian hostility toward America will never end.

The anniversary marked nearly three decades since Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, taking diplomats and citizens hostage. Fifty-two Americans were held for 444 days before release. That crisis cemented the rupture between the two countries, which have had no formal diplomatic relations for years. Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani addressed the crowd, claiming the U.S. and Israel had suffered a massive defeat reflected in recent elections.

The political celebration occurred just one day after limited strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported explosions Monday on Qeshm and Hengam islands and near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. Authorities have not publicly identified the specific sites struck or disclosed the extent of the damage. The strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transited before the war, has seen repeated Iranian attacks on commercial shipping.

Iran’s state television reported Wednesday that four oil tankers caught fire after striking mines on unauthorized routes. Back-channel negotiations continue between the two sides. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday that he and Trump both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. Before the latest strikes, the Trump administration’s last known attacks on Iran were in early September.

Thousands of U.S. troops remain in waters off Iran to maintain the naval blockade, which aims to prevent tankers carrying Iranian oil from reaching the global market. Another aircraft carrier and thousands of additional troops are on their way to the Middle East. The U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, killing the country’s longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and triggering a conflict that has disrupted global energy markets and shipping.