Iran warns of wider war if US attacks after Trump election rout
Iranian government supporters burn an Israeli flag during the annual rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover, outside the former embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap
TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader warned on Wednesday that the Middle East war would widen if the U.S. resumes its attacks, dismissing hopes of a policy shift in Washington after midterm elections dealt a blow to President Donald Trump.
Trump has recently threatened to renew the war against Iran amid similar rhetoric from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but on Tuesday he suffered a resounding defeat in polls that will strip his Republicans of control over Congress.
The results could constrain Trump's ability to enact his agenda, though the president retains the power to order new strikes.
"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," Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written statement Wednesday.
He also warned that if the United States did choose further military action, the scope of the war would widen, without elaborating.
Khamenei has yet to appear in public since he took power in March following the killing of his father and predecessor in US-Israeli strikes, and has communicated through written messages.
Earlier, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the US, said Americans had voted against war in the midterms.
"Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message," he posted on X.
"If the U.S. govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare," Ghalibaf said.
Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also hailed the election results, saying Trump had been "defeated both militarily and politically."
The war has proved unpopular among the U.S. public, who have seen the cost of living rise after a spike in energy prices caused by the war.
Trump on Tuesday acknowledged the conflict may have played a part in the defeat of his Republican Party.
"I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I've done," Trump told Fox News.
On Tuesday the U.S. launched strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian state media reporting five explosions in rapid succession.
"They built an anti-aircraft facility... As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely," Trump told U.S. media, but he called it a "minor attack."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a U.S. MQ-1 drone was "intercepted and destroyed" over Qeshm Island. There was no confirmation from the U.S. side.
'Locked and loaded'
Earlier this week the president said he still had to "take care" of one or two targets, including so-called Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran, a suspected nuclear site which Tehran denies is such a facility.
However, he told the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday that a full-scale resumption of war may not be necessary.
"We seem to be getting everything we want," he said. "I'm ready, we're ready. We're locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it."
The president's remarks come with diplomatic efforts by mediators in full swing in an attempt to prevent any resumption of fighting.
On Tuesday Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government was still trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Pezeshkian said Iran's supreme leader had granted the government new powers to negotiate on issues previously off-limits.
Qatar, a mediator in the protracted wrangling, said it remained hopeful of an interim deal.
Both sides "are currently reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters.
China also said Wednesday that avoiding a return to hostilities was a top priority in its diplomatic efforts with the countries.
The war, triggered in February when the U.S. and Israel pummelled Iran in a massive wave of strikes, has been at a stalemate for months.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned of wide-ranging retaliation if Washington resumes the war.