‘Boss prepping next phase’: Iran jabs team Trump as Vance blames war for midterms loss

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday hit out at JD Vance after the US vice president blamed the war on Iran for the Republican Party's losses in the midterm elections.Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has mocked US vice president JD Vance after he blamed the war on Iran for US poll defeat (AFP)The Iranian diplomat accused the Donald Trump administration of refusing to accept the consequences of the war. “Losing gambler energy, can't walk away from the table," Ghalibaf wrote on X in response to a lengthy post by JD Vance accepting the election loss."Boss is prepping the next war phase while America teeters on an Israel-first cliff. Skip the TED talk. Why not say this to your boss?” Ghalibaf added. The remark appeared to be a reference to US President Donald Trump and his administration's approach to the US-Israeli war on Iran. His reference to an “Israel-first cliff” might suggest that Washington's policy towards Tehran was coming at the expense of American interests.The US and Israel bombed Iran on February 28, assassinating their Supreme Leader. Tehran, in retaliation, struck US bases on the Gulf and shut off the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil artery. This sent crude oil and fuel prices soaring, adding to the cost-of-living pressures on American households. Analysts, cited by AP and Reuters, have cited rising energy costs and public opposition to the war as key factors behind voters turning against Republicans in the midterm elections.ALSO READ | Trump says 'largely true' Iran war led to midterm losses but defends actionsWhat JD Vance said about the midterm lossVance's remarks came after Democrats made major gains in the November 3 midterm elections, winning control of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives. The results dealt a huge blow to Trump and the Republican Party as Democratic candidates also won several traditionally Republican states.On Wednesday, Vance offered an assessment of why Republicans had suffered such a defeat. He said the problem was not a lack of voter turnout but the fact that many people who had supported Trump and Vance in the 2024 presidential election switched their support to Democrats.Vance said Republican voters were unhappy with the administration's policies, particularly its decision to go to war with Iran. He identified four major issues that had influenced voters who abandoned the Republican Party:- Ending the war with Iran.- Focusing on the rising cost of living and inflation.- Returning to the 'America First' agenda.- Changing the US relationship with Israel.“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.He also questioned whether the bombardment had been worth the political cost, pointing out that Republicans had lost control of the Senate for the next six years.“If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest,” he said.The vice president added that any honest discussion about rebuilding Republican support must begin by acknowledging the impact of the war.Khamenei's swipe at Trump administrationOn Wednesday, the Iranian parliament speaker also welcomed the election outcome in a separate post on X, saying: “Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message.”He warned Washington against ignoring the views of its own voters and launching further attacks on Iran.ALSO READ | ‘Partisan shift won’t change US hostility towards Iran’: Mojtaba after midterms setback to TrumpIranian officials have used the Republican defeat to argue that the war has come at a political and economic cost for the United States. However, Tehran remains concerned that Trump could order fresh military action despite the election results.Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei also responded to the developments, saying US hostility towards Iran would continue regardless of which political party held power in Washington. He warned against any move towards submission to the US. “Should such aggressions be repeated, its (the war's) scope will become much wider,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters. “The US sees the end of its hegemony as distant; we see it as near,” he added.Trump defends military action against IranTrump, meanwhile, has continued to defend his decision to launch military action against Iran, despite acknowledging that the conflict contributed to Republican losses.Speaking to reporters at the White House, the US president said the war was one of the factors behind the election setback but maintained that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons was more important.“I think part of it was Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I have done with Iran. Historically, it will be much more important than this evening because you can't let the number one state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, HT reported earlier.He also agreed with Vance's assessment that the war had pushed up fuel prices, saying the increase in gasoline prices had affected voters in the short term. Trump described Vance's social media post as good and said he was already aware of the vice president's views on the war.The president also declined to give a clear indication of whether Vance would run for president in 2028. Asked about his vice president's political ambitions, Trump said he spoke to him about several issues but did not know who would enter the presidential race.“You can have people running, you can have a lot of people, maybe a lot of people running, maybe nobody's going to run, maybe he won't run, I don't know who's going to run,” Trump told reporters.The fighting between Iran and the US also spread to other nations. Israel bombed Lebanon, citing Hezbollah interference as Yemen's Houthis targeted energy facilities, airports and other sites in Saudi Arabia.