How Iran messaging highlights cost of war ahead of US midterm elections

In messages that look to beryllium directed astatine the American public, Iran has been highlighting the outgo of the warfare that the United States and Israel launched against the state up of the United States midterm elections.

Iranian officials person published articles successful state-affiliated outlets stressing the disastrous interaction of the warfare connected lipid prices and the US economy, portion Iran’s main negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has actively targeted US officials astir rising costs and subject spending.

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Sina Toossi, a elder non-resident chap astatine the Center for International Policy, said Tehran is looking to summation the governmental outgo of the warfare for Trump by trying to speech straight to the American public.

“It’s not needfully that they’re trying to get Democrats successful powerfulness oregon manipulate US authorities successful a definite direction, different than conscionable wide expanding the costs connected this contented of the Iran war, and conscionable playing that crippled of accusation warfare and getting retired their ain communicative and propaganda arsenic well,” Toossi told Al Jazeera.

Trump’s Republican Party is looking to clasp power of the Senate and House of Representatives successful adjacent month’s midterm vote. But the Democratic Party, which mostly opposes the warfare with Iran, is mounting a beardown situation crossed the legislature electoral map, including successful areas that person been blimpish strongholds for decades, such arsenic Texas.

On Wednesday, Ghalibaf shared a quality communicative connected inflation rising to 3.7 percent past period on with a collage of antagonistic headlines connected the US economy.

The societal media station besides featured a comic portion from the Road Runner cartoon showing Wile E Coyote gathering a catapult that misfires and launches a boulder astatine him.

“Let’s ‘play the percentages’. Not successful odds, but successful the % increases,” Ghalibaf wrote successful a connection to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been starring the sanctions run against Iran.

Bessent said past period that helium represents “the house”, likening the system to a casino portion addressing the nationalist indebtedness and enslaved market.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrives astatine Zurich Airport successful Switzerland, June 20, 2026 [Handout/Iranian Parliament Speaker Office/West Asia News Agency via Reuters]

Ghalibaf’s remark referred to the summation successful inflation, underscoring that the outgo of surviving keeps rising owed to the warfare contempt Bessent’s assertions.

Days earlier, helium shared an representation of a shade shaped similar a doorbell curve, with diesel prices rising and lodging affordability and user assurance falling.

Since the commencement of the warfare connected February 28, Iran has disrupted shipping successful the Strait of Hormuz, sending vigor prices soaring. In the US, the terms of diesel is astatine an all-time grounds of $6.33 per gallon (3.8 litres), according to the American Automobile Association, and state is $4.33, up from little than $3 earlier the war.

Iran has intensified its attacks connected vessels astir the strait successful caller days aft Trump and his aides repeatedly stressed that the waterway is nether US control.

The uptick successful vigor prices has fuelled wide ostentation successful the economy, starring the US Federal Reserve to raise involvement rates past period astatine a clip erstwhile Trump has been calling for them to beryllium chopped to stimulate economical activity.

In a missive to the American nationalist connected September 29, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused Trump of lying astir the outgo of the warfare and the authorities of the US economy, dismissing the president’s claims that lipid prices would soon nosedive.

“Countries astir the satellite person mislaid their religion successful the US economy. Demand for American bonds has plummeted. In fact, countries are starting to offload their US bonds. Soon, the dam volition break, and the system volition implode, causing, unfortunately, large symptom for Americans for galore many years,” the IRGC said.

“Americans request to aftermath up. They request to wrest power backmost from corrupt politicians. Now is the time, arsenic the American governmental strategy is astatine its weakest.”

The US midterm elections are seen arsenic a turning constituent successful the struggle – not due to the fact that of their imaginable outcome, but due to the fact that of what Trump mightiness bash aft the vote.

Trump has suggested that helium would either onslaught a woody with Iran oregon instrumentality to a full-scale warfare aft the November 3 legislative elections. He has besides dismissed the thought that the ballot volition person immoderate interaction connected his Iran policy.

“They’re waiting to spot however I bash successful the midterm election. What they don’t realise is that I’m not running,” Trump said astatine the United Nations General Assembly past month.

“I gave perfectly nary credence and volition not springiness credence to the election. When it comes to Iran, it doesn’t adjacent participate my mind. The lone happening that does is that Iran volition ne'er person a atomic weapon.”

If the Democrats summation power of Congress, they tin propulsion for measures to curb Trump’s quality to proceed the war, including done withholding backing for the subject campaign.

But Toossi said determination is simply a statement wrong Iran connected the imaginable interaction of a Democratic triumph successful November.

While immoderate constituent to overseas argumentation hawks among the Democrats to reason that small would change, others accidental a midterm decision would marque him politically susceptible and likely constrain his warfare powers.

“I don’t deliberation they’re hedging their bets either way, and I don’t deliberation it needfully affects their wide strategy of expanding the costs [of war] careless of immoderate happens successful November,” Toossi told Al Jazeera.