Vance blames Iran war for Republican midterm losses

Vance’s post on X came as US officials told Reuters that Trump was still weighing whether to restart major combat operations against Iran, Al-Monitor reported. The remarks raised questions about senior Pentagon officials, most notably Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with some lawmakers expected to seek his impeachment. Vance called an earlier recommendation to end the war “sound advice,” while Trump told the Wall Street Journal that the Iran war was only one of several reasons for the defeat and that “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.”

Iranian officials reacted to the result. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X that Americans said “no” to war, and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said Iran had imposed a strategic defeat on Trump on the battlefield and in the Strait of Hormuz and a political defeat in Washington, ISNA and Khabar Online reported. Mohammad Mokhber, an aide to the supreme leader, said the American people had struck a blow against Trump, and Amoli Larijani, head of the Expediency Council, called the vote a big “no” to US war policy.