Khamenei: America’s hostility will not change by changing parties

The new Iranian leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said that those who place “the slightest hope” on changing the United States’ behavior due to “partisan and factional changes,” or on making concessions to it, are “deeply mistaken,” warning that the confrontation with the United States will take on “much broader dimensions” if the “aggressions” are repeated.

Senior Iranian officials welcomed the results of the midterm elections, and considered them a rejection by American voters of the war against Iran and a defeat for President Donald Trump, while Tehran remains on high alert in anticipation of renewed attacks.

A statement attributed to Khamenei, on the anniversary of the storming of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, the day after the US midterm elections, said that those who believe that partisan changes within the United States or making concessions to Washington can end its hostility towards Iran are “deeply mistaken.”

The Democrats took full control of Congress, with its two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, at the expense of the Republicans, led by President Donald Trump. The result reflected anger over rising costs of living, tariffs and the war on Iran, which has raised fuel prices dramatically.

Trump acknowledged in two interviews with two media outlets that the US-Israeli war played a role in the Republican defeats, according to Reuters.

This is the latest statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei since he took office in March, succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first American-Israeli strikes on Iran, on February 28. The new guide has not appeared in public since his election.

The Republican loss coincided with the anniversary of the storming of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, when extremist students stormed it after the fall of the Shah, who was supported by Washington, and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

The anniversary falls this year amid anticipation of the possibility that the United States and Israel will resume the war on Iran, after months of a decline in hostilities. The authorities mobilized dozens of their supporters, school students, government department employees, and military personnel on main streets in Tehran and major cities, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of Aban.

Participants raised red flags vowing revenge for former guide Ali Khamenei, and banners and pictures denouncing Trump and his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. American and Israeli flags were burned, according to photos published by government media.

“Deeply mistaken”

The statement added: “If there is still anyone who holds the slightest hope for a change in behavior or for partisan and sectarian changes in the hegemonic system, or who imagines that by making concessions to America he can divert it from its hostility to the Iranian people, then he is deeply mistaken.”

He added that this is a “false perception” and said: “Satan’s greatest wish is for the Iranian people to surrender unconditionally.”

He warned that “the slightest tendency toward surrender to the enemy” would dispel what he considered the gains achieved by Iran during the confrontations, and would make the United States more emboldened in “excessive demands and subsequent wars and transgressions.” Mediators intensified their efforts to end the war amid fears that it could break out again after the elections. Yesterday, Tuesday, Trump refused to rule out the resumption of combat operations after the vote, and Iran is planning a broader response if the war resumes.

But two high-ranking Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran was concerned that Trump would seek to compensate for this with a military strike, and remained on high alert, despite Iranian leaders welcoming the Democrats' victory.

On Tuesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that the Supreme Leader had granted the government new powers to negotiate with the United States, without specifying their scope.

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, wrote on Tuesday that the American response to Iranian demands “was not convincing,” and that the Strait of Hormuz would not be opened before Washington “fully and frankly” responded to the seven conditions and implemented them.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran and Washington are still far from an agreement to end the war. He added that Tehran would respond forcefully to US strikes “in the region and beyond.” Qatari mediators expect to receive both parties' responses to a new proposal within 36 hours.

In another part of his statement, Khamenei presented what Iran did in the recent war as the beginning of a broader confrontation. He said that “Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz and the elimination of American bases” constituted a response to American attacks during the recent war.

He added that these operations, although they were a response to the American attack, represented “an initial jihad against arrogance on a regional scale,” warning that they “will take on much broader dimensions if the attacks are repeated.”

He vowed to expand the confrontation fronts and spoke again about “the unity of the resistance front arenas,” from Palestine and Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen. He wrote that America's power “in the dimensions of military hard power and international soft power” was witnessing an “irreversible fall,” and that “its path of collapse has accelerated.”

Khamenei enumerated what he described as stations of “American hostility,” including the imposition of “broad, long, and heavy” economic sanctions, as indicated by the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the official in charge of military operations in the Revolutionary Guards, in a strike ordered by Trump in early 2020.

He said that Washington seeks “brazenly” to “divide the country, bring the people to its knees, overthrow the regime, and eliminate Iran’s authentic and ancient civilization.” He added that its “miscalculations” had imposed “heavy costs on the American people and the puppet governments” of the US administration.

He said that “the only way to achieve absolute deterrence” is to continue the strategy of “a stronger and stronger Iran.” He called for unity and cohesion, and asked officials to ensure the “living and comfort” of citizens.

Qalibaf: “No to war”

A number of Iranian officials took a sharper stance towards the results of the US elections, presenting them as a political defeat for the Trump administration. Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Baqir Qalibaf said on Wednesday that the Americans’ vote was “no to war.”

He wrote on the “X” platform: “Whether out of conviction or because of the cost of living, the Americans said: No to war. We support this message.” He added: “If the American government betrays the will of its people to serve international parties that finance and practice blackmail, it will realize that the word ‘no’ that we say is accompanied by a nightmare.”

Qalibaf said on Tuesday that Iran is ready for battle “with its finger on the trigger,” and that its response to “any error in the enemy’s calculations” will be “unexpected” and without “geographic restrictions.”

He added that Tehran provided a “strong and rational response,” stressing that the Iranian leader determined the military strategy to confront any possible attack, and that “the ball is now in America’s court to avoid war.”

For his part, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the Iranian armed forces are “much stronger” than they were in the previous two wars, and that Tehran is “fully prepared” for diplomacy and defense.

He added in statements to state television: “We are doing our best, and we hope that the other party will have enough rationality to prefer diplomacy over other methods.” But we are fully prepared for other paths as well.” He continued: “The Supreme Leader’s message clearly showed what our will is. “The mission of our armed forces is completely clear at the present time.”

As for Muhammad Mokhber, the Iranian leader’s advisor and assistant, he said that Trump “received a slap from his people,” despite his attempts to achieve a victory for his party. He wrote: “The real winner in this field is Iran, which transferred the cost of the war to America.”

The head of the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, wrote: “Trump was defeated in war and politics. We will certainly impose more defeats on him, and this is only the first fruits of the dawn.”

Mizan Agency, the judiciary’s platform, published a joke circulating on “X” stating that “Trump failed to change the regime in Iran, but he succeeded in Texas,” in reference to the state in which a Democrat won a seat in the Senate for the first time in decades.

Central Bank Governor Abdel Nasser Hemmati considered that the attempt to isolate Iran economically and bring down its economy within two weeks ended with “the political exclusion of Republicans from the American legislative authority.”

Assistant to the Iranian President for Communications and Media Affairs, Sayyed Mehdi Tabatabai, said that American voters sent a clear message, considering that the war on Iran, the events in Gaza, and American bias towards Israel were among the reasons for the Republican Party’s losses.

He described the result as the party's biggest electoral defeat.

Military threats

In parallel with the political reactions, Iranian military officials renewed their warning against expanding the scope of the response if the attacks resume.

The commander of the ground arm of the Revolutionary Guard, Muhammad Karmi, said that repeating any “miscalculation” on the part of the opponents will lead to an acceleration of their exit from the region, and “the decline and demise of the Zionist regime.”

Hamid Reza Moghadam Far, advisor to the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, warned that the Iranian response would not be limited to the sites from which the attacks were launched. He added that Iran “has not retreated into a shell of defense and weakness,” and that its strikes “will be different this time,” and “further and more exemplary.” He said that Iran's "change of doctrine" is "one of the signs of Iran's superiority in the war."

On Tuesday, the Revolutionary Guards announced the modernization of its “goal bank,” placing its opponents’ “material and intangible assets” in the goal, and responding to any threat “without geographical restrictions.”

The mayor of Tehran, and former presidential election candidate, Ali Reza Zakani, hinted at changing the nuclear doctrine. He said in his speech to the demonstrators: “Today, the nuclear issue is a serious issue.” He added: “We were not seeking the nuclear bomb, but your unconventional threat will make the country’s nuclear doctrine change, with the leadership’s plan and the support of this people.”

He added that demanding that Iran pledge not to build the bomb was “very funny.” He continued, "In exchange for the unconventional threat, the enemies will face an unconventional threat and an unconventional action."

Hamshahri newspaper, affiliated with the Tehran municipality, linked the two events with a picture published on its front page showing Trump blindfolded and with his head bowed, and behind him appears a picture of the US embassy’s bet in Tehran, 47 years ago. She wrote in the headline, “Iran’s shadow looms over the American elections,” and added that Washington remained “Iran’s prisoner for 47 years: from the seizure of the nest of spies (the American embassy) to the US Congressional elections in November 2026.”

On Monday and Tuesday night, the United States carried out strikes that it described as “defensive” on Qeshm Island. On Tuesday, Trump acknowledged the strike, describing it as “a small attack, and it was not a war.”

The war, which was sparked by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, has been at a stalemate for months. Despite the collapse of a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran concluded in June, hostilities did not renew on a large scale, and the two sides exchanged strikes from time to time.

Today (Wednesday) Israeli President Isaac Herzog begins consultations to appoint a person to form the new government, after the legislative elections that reflected a sharp division, in which the outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his main competitor, Gadi Eisenkot, did not obtain a likely majority to lead the Hebrew state.

Although the position of head of state in Israel remains largely ceremonial, it is up to Herzog to decide who will be given the opportunity to try to form a government, a process that may take weeks or even months, and may end in failure and lead to new elections.

Herzog's positions raised speculation that he might seek the opinions of party leaders regarding forming a national unity government, in an effort to achieve stability in a country witnessing severe polarization after years of wars and the hard-line policies of Netanyahu's government, which is considered the most right-wing in Israel's history.

After officially receiving the results of the October 27 elections, the first since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, Herzog will begin two days of consultations at five in the afternoon (15.00 GMT).

His office explained that he would meet with the beginning of the small parties, and that he would meet on Thursday evening with the two largest parties, which are the right-wing Likud, led by Netanyahu, and the Yashar Party, led by former Chief of Staff Eisenkot.

Despite pressure exerted by Netanyahu and his accusations of fraud against the Arab parties, the Israeli Elections Commission announced that its audit of the elections did not reveal any violations affecting the integrity of the vote.

The committee said in a statement: “The audit has been completed. We reviewed all the complaints submitted by the political forces, and we found no indication of any violation of the integrity of the elections.”

The Election Commission explained that it studied all the appeals submitted by parties or individuals, and examined more than nine thousand ballot boxes, which is an “unprecedented number.”

Neither the right-wing nor the opposition bloc obtained the parliamentary majority necessary to form a government, i.e. 61 seats out of 120 in the Knesset. Netanyahu's bloc gained an advantage with 53 seats, compared to 48 for Eisenkot's bloc.

The latter can guarantee the necessary majority if he allies with the Arab parties, which achieved an unprecedented result by winning 19 seats, but some opposition parties are reluctant to cooperate with them or rely on the votes of non-Jewish representatives.

“New ideas”

Herzog, who began his career in the Labor Party, which is currently almost absent from the political arena, said that he wants to push for the adoption of “new ideas” and avoid a second ballot.

His office added in a statement: “It is important to exhaust all options, expand dialogue, and explore all ways that might move the process forward.”

The person assigned by Herzog will have a period of 28 days to form the government, which can be extended for an additional 14 days. In the event of failure to do so, the President of the State grants the mandate to another person.

If the second person assigned does not succeed in the task, the majority of Knesset members can agree within 21 days on another candidate, otherwise the country will head to new elections.

Netanyahu needed 58 days to form his government after the November 2022 elections, noting that Likud achieved a better result at the time than its result today.

The political crisis pushed Israelis to go to the polls five times between 2019 and 2022.

Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel's history, who ruled for nearly two decades, albeit non-continuously, enjoys a strong popular base. But he also faces strong opposition. One of the most prominent reasons for his opposition is his effort to restructure the judiciary, while some hold him responsible for the security negligence that allowed the Hamas attack to occur.

Netanyahu also faces corruption charges and the possibility of going to prison if he loses power and his immunity.

Late in the election campaign, Netanyahu vowed to resume strikes on Iran in coordination with US President Donald Trump, after the two sides launched the war in the Middle East by attacking the Islamic Republic on February 28.

For his part, Eisenkot warned the military and security establishment against implementing orders that serve Netanyahu’s political purposes, considering that the latter has lost the popular mandate, even if he remains head of a caretaker government.

No unity government

While Netanyahu called for the formation of an “expanded unity government” headed by him, his opponents stressed that this was out of the question, attributing this to his personality and accusing him of failing to prevent an attack in 2023.

During their first meeting after the elections, Eisenkot and other opposition leaders pledged on Tuesday to move quickly to form a government and remove Netanyahu from power, without specifying how to achieve this.

There is disagreement among the opposition parties regarding the possibility of alliance and cooperation with Arab parties.

Youssef Jabareen, head of the Joint Arab List, which won 11 seats in the elections, said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Monday that the opposition must accept the “political truth” and cooperate with his list to remove Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has repeatedly warned Jewish Israelis that the opposition will cooperate with Arab parties, which he accuses of supporting the Hamas movement.

On the other hand, Jabareen stressed that potential partners will have to at least express a positive stance towards the positions of the Joint List, which rejects Netanyahu’s approach, which he described as “an approach of wars and destruction in Gaza and settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank.”