Americans voted no to war: Iran's Ghalibaf warns US after Trump's midterm setback

Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the US, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has said Americans voted "NO TO WAR", following President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffering a major setback in the US midterm elections."We endorse this message," Ghalibaf wrote on X, referring to the Republican losses. He warned that if the US government ignored its people's mandate and continued serving "international paymasters and blackmailers", it would learn that Iran's "NO comes with a Nightmare". Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Trump acknowledged that the Iran war and the resulting surge in petrol prices were among the factors behind the Republicans' poor performance in the midterm elections. However, he maintained that he did not regret launching the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.Speaking to Fox News, Trump said, "I think a part of it was Iran." He added that while Americans supported his actions against Iran, they were probably unwilling to bear the short-term consequences of higher gasoline prices. In a separate interview with CBS News, Trump said the conflict would end "when I say it ends".In recent weeks, Trump has warned that the US and Israel could resume an all-out war if negotiations with Iran fail to produce an agreement. Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since reportedly being seriously wounded in an Israeli air strike on the first day of the war, also ruled out any major change in Washington's approach towards Tehran.In a statement, Khamenei said anyone expecting a shift in America's "hostility towards the Iranian nation" was "gravely mistaken". He warned that any renewed conflict would have "much wider dimensions".Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Wednesday that four oil tankers had caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. It said two vessels were still burning and that two other tankers had been intercepted for allegedly attempting to use a prohibited southern route.The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre separately reported that a tanker was struck by two unidentified projectiles about 14 nautical miles north-east of Limah, off Oman's Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening. No casualties were reported.The incident came a day after an Indian crew member aboard a wooden sailing vessel, or dhow, was killed in an attack north-east of Limah. Thirteen other crew members were rescued by Omani authorities.The IRGC also claimed on Wednesday that it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. It had made a similar claim on Monday night, when US officials said the American military conducted limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in response to Iranian attacks on a US aircraft.Ahead of the midterm elections, Trump told the Financial Times that he was satisfied with the state of the conflict and did not consider it a "real" war. Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reported indications of a possible attack on Iran, Trump said the US was "locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no need for it".IRAN-US TALKS REMAIN STALLEDIndirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran have remained stalled for months, even as both sides face pressure to reach an agreement and prevent another escalation.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that his government had been trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue, warning that "no-one will benefit from this war" if fighting resumes.He also said the Supreme Leader had authorised the government to negotiate on issues that he had previously considered off-limits.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqai said on Monday that the ongoing indirect negotiations, mediated by Qatar, were based on a seven-point proposal submitted by Tehran in September. He added that the proposal had since been condensed and could be implemented within two days.The Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route through which around a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the beginning of the conflict due to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and a US naval blockade.A preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the waterway was reached in June, but collapsed within weeks after attacks on shipping resumed and Washington reinstated its blockade.Tehran has insisted on retaining some control over the strategic waterway and has targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters, instead of its preferred passage through Iranian waters.- Ends