'Boss prepping next war phase': Iran mocks JD Vance after midterm defeat, says America is on 'Israel-first cliff'

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday took a swipe at US Vice-President JD Vance after he blamed the war with Iran for the Republican Party's losses in the midterm elections. Responding to Vance's remarks, Ghalibaf questioned why the Vice-President had not raised his concerns directly with President Donald Trump while accusing the administration of preparing to escalate its military campaign against Tehran.

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In a post on X, Ghalibaf also suggested that Washington was placing Israeli interests ahead of its own.

"Losing gambler energy, can't walk away from the table. 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 wrote on Thursday.

Losing gambler energy, can't walk away from the table. 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?

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) November 5, 2026

JD Vance blames Iran war for Republican election defeat

Ghalibaf's remarks came a day after Vance attributed the Republican Party's poor performance in the November 3 midterm elections largely to public dissatisfaction with the war in Iran. According to the Vice-President, the defeat could not be explained simply by the party's failure to mobilise its supporters, as voters who had backed the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 appeared to have shifted their support to Democratic candidates.

"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote on Wednesday.

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up. So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us." Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone. Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were: 1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.) In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. 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. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 4, 2026

Democrats secure control of both houses of US Congress

The Republicans' electoral setback was particularly significant as Democrats secured majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. Their Senate victories included contests in Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, states that had traditionally posed challenges for the party in recent elections.

With Democrats winning majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Republicans will lose control of Congress when the newly elected lawmakers take office in January 2027. This shift in power will give Democrats the ability to block Trump's legislative proposals and launch congressional investigations into his administration.

US-Iran war

The election outcome also comes against the backdrop of a prolonged conflict with Iran, which began in late February when the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Tehran. More than eight months into the war, the continuing confrontation has coincided with rising petrol and diesel prices, adding to the financial pressure on American households. These increases, along with the broader cost of living, became key issues in Democratic election campaigns.

Trump defends Iran war despite Republican losses

Despite acknowledging that the conflict had influenced the election outcome, Trump stood by his decision to launch military action against Iran. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal following the results, the US President conceded that the war had contributed to the Republican losses but maintained that the decision to attack Iran had been justified.

Also Read: EC announces special summary revision of electoral rolls in six states and UTs; final list on January 21