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00:00:23The fall of the strong Republican fortresses in the
00:00:26US midterm elections. Democrats took both.
00:00:30The houses of Congress were theirs.
00:00:31Trump and Vance
00:00:37admit that the war affected the defeat
00:00:41of Republicans. The US president still defends his decision to attack
00:00:44Iran.
00:00:45John Asal's reaction to the results of the US midterm elections.
00:00:51From expressing confidence in the continuation of hostility in a message
00:00:55آمریکا از ابراز اطمینان به تداوم دشمنی در پیام
00:00:59attributed to Mrs. Khamenei to an interpretation of it as a negative vote
00:01:02against war by Qalib.
00:01:06Tonight, with our guests, we will discuss the main questions. What changes will this
00:01:10result bring to the balance of power within the US,
00:01:13and more importantly, what impact will it have on Trump's policy towards
00:01:17Iran and the possibility of effective attacks?
00:01:20The first
00:01:30Muslim Arab-American
00:01:33to enter the US Senate, Abdul Sayyid,
00:01:36the left-wing Democratic candidate in Michigan,
00:01:40won.
00:01:40Positive reaction of financial markets
00:01:47and the victory of Democrats in
00:01:50America. Did the Trump administration lose the midterm elections
00:01:54due to the increase in the cost of living?
00:01:56Hello and welcome to another
00:02:42consequences will affect US politics for years to come, disrupted
00:02:46the political calculations of Donald Trump
00:02:50and the Republican Party. By winning in key
00:02:53states, they took control
00:02:57of both houses of Congress, a result that has even led to
00:03:00accusations within the Republican Party being pointed
00:03:04at the President. J. D. Vance, Trump's
00:03:08deputy, explicitly attributed the defeat of Republicans to the war
00:03:12with Iran and said that voters want a change in America's
00:03:15relationship with Israel. With the victory of Democrats in this
00:03:18election, will America's policy towards Iran change?
00:03:22Can the result of this election prevent Trump's decision to launch
00:03:25military attacks, or on the contrary,
00:03:29might it
00:03:38joined us from the US Congress. Khashayar, tell us about the reactions.
00:03:41It was a historic day for
00:03:45America itself.
00:03:46It was a historic day,
00:03:49and Democrats made history, but
00:03:53part of the credit for this history-making by Democrats should
00:03:56go to Mr. Trump. When you talk to analysts and
00:04:01so-called political scientists, they talk about how yesterday's vote by the American
00:04:05people and Democrats was in fact
00:04:09a big no to Mr. Trump's policies.
00:04:13Polls at the ballot boxes showed that
00:04:1639% said that the biggest
00:04:20problem they have, the dissatisfaction they have, is the economic situation.
00:04:23When we talk about the price of gasoline and
00:04:26energy carriers, the price of food,
00:04:30the cost of lawsuits and treatments, when you look at all of these,
00:04:33a large part of it is due to the pressure that the war
00:04:37with Iran or the war with Iran has put on energy markets.
00:04:40Today, as you mentioned, J. D.
00:04:44Vance, Mr. Trump's deputy, published a detailed
00:04:47article on the social network X. It seems to
00:04:50me that Republicans are self-examining to see what caused
00:04:54their defeat, and he points out that the war with Iran
00:04:57played an important role
00:05:00in the defeat of Republicans. Mr. Trump was asked about this
00:05:04a few moments ago. He confirmed Mr. Vance's words,
00:05:08but said that if he went back, he would still decide
00:05:11to go to war with Iran.
00:05:14Anyway, Republicans suffered a heavy blow,
00:05:17but Mr. Trump himself also faced a heavy
00:05:21blow. Two years of his presidency remain.
00:05:24In the American political
00:05:27tradition, a president who, in the second half of his
00:05:30presidency, due to the midterm elections, faces
00:05:34a Congress that plays an opposing tune, a Congress whose
00:05:37majority is held by his opponents, this president
00:05:41is called a lame duck.
00:05:43He practically can't get much done, except through
00:05:46a lot of concessions and compromises with Democrats.
00:05:50But the important question for many, especially Iranian
00:05:54audiences, is what impact the US midterm
00:05:57elections will have on this conflict between Iran and America,
00:06:01a war that is not yet over,
00:06:04peace has not been established, but no severe confrontation
00:06:08is taking place either. What will be the result for this war? My colleague,
00:06:12Mahnoush Pourzaiaei, is here with me, here in the US Capitol Building,
00:06:15and I want to ask Mahnoush a question. Mahnoush, considering
00:06:19what has happened,
00:06:21what will be the outcome of this war and Mr. Trump's decision in this regard?
00:06:25We don't know the outcome of the war, but
00:06:28on Monday, Khashayar, the House and
00:06:31Senate will resume their work. For another two
00:06:34months, until the new members arrive, the composition
00:06:38of Congress will be the same as before. What will happen in these
00:06:42two months? In this period, Mr. Trump
00:06:45still has the authority and power to make any decision
00:06:48he wants. He is still the Commander-in-Chief. The same will be true after January and the new
00:06:52Congress, but Democrats have gained new life
00:06:56because they know the situation will only last for two
00:06:59more months. Republicans
00:07:03are also, on the one hand, looking for self-reflection, as you said,
00:07:06because of the defeat they suffered, and they are looking
00:07:10for ways to repair their political future. Therefore,
00:07:14it is possible that Democrats and Republicans, at least some
00:07:18of them who no longer see their political future tied to Mr. Trump,
00:07:22may be able to form alliances
00:07:25in some cases and impose restrictions
00:07:29on the escalation of the war in front of Mr. Trump.
00:07:32These restrictions can generally be budgetary restrictions,
00:07:36which are essentially Mr. Trump's war chest,
00:07:40and prevent
00:07:42the approval of new appropriations for the Pentagon.
00:07:46This issue is very important right
00:07:50now. American military forces in the Persian Gulf and around
00:07:53the Strait of Hormuz cost nearly
00:07:56one billion dollars a day, if I'm not
00:08:00In any case, the next two just their food
00:08:03alone costs a lot, let alone weapons, military readiness,
00:08:07and all these things that are happening need money.
00:08:10And if this money doesn't come from Congress and is limited,
00:08:14it will at least tie Mr. Trump's hands.
00:08:18I saw that right now, Ms. Yasmin Ansari,
00:08:22a Democratic representative from Arizona who is of Iranian origin
00:08:25and has been re-elected, is talking again about impeaching
00:08:29Secretary of Defense Mattis.
00:08:32And it seems that the Democratic Congress wants to use this
00:08:35leverage against Mr. Trump to gain concessions.
00:08:39years will not be easy for
00:08:43Mr. Trump. He will have many problems, but we have to
00:08:46see if Democrats can use this opportunity they have gained
00:08:50to their advantage to
00:08:54take the White House from Republicans in two
00:08:57years, in addition to Congress, or not.
00:09:13expressed satisfaction with the heavy defeat of Donald Trump's
00:09:17party in the US midterm elections and considered it a sign
00:09:20of American voters' opposition to war against Iran.
00:09:24A message attributed to the leader of the Islamic Republic,
00:09:27however, says there is no difference between the two
00:09:31main parties in the US in their hostility towards Iran. This
00:09:34is while Tehran is still on alert, concerned
00:09:38about the possibility of renewed US and Israeli military
00:09:41attacks. Saeed Barzin, an analyst of Iranian political
00:09:44issues, is with us. Mr. Barzin, welcome
00:09:48to the program. How much do you think the result
00:09:52of this election goes back to Iran,
00:09:55to what happened in the war with Iran? Mr. Vance, Mr. Trump's
00:09:58deputy, somehow considers it the main reason
00:10:02for this defeat. What is your
00:10:04view? Look, everything in
00:10:08the current situation depends on Trump's behavior
00:10:11and the behavior.
00:10:25They can definitively say which way we are going. On the one
00:10:28hand, Trump has two months
00:10:32until the new Congress begins its work.
00:10:35It is possible that during this time, especially
00:10:39with Israel's support, he will continue his war
00:10:43and launch another widespread attack,
00:10:47even for revenge, for example, against Iran. But on the
00:10:50other hand, pay attention that the pressure
00:10:53of the elections, the pressure of the Republican
00:10:56Party itself, internal disagreements
00:10:59among Republican Party officials, and economic
00:11:03pressure will be an obstacle that will prevent him from
00:11:07starting a new war. He himself has even admitted that one
00:11:10of the reasons for the defeat in these elections was
00:11:13the issue of Iran. I think that the issue should be
00:11:16seen in its broader context. Look, when
00:11:20Hamas attacked, that regrettable armed
00:11:23uprising that Mr. Sinwar started,
00:11:26after that, Israel came and said
00:11:29that we want to overthrow the Islamic Republic.
00:11:33Overthrow the Islamic Republic and send Iran
00:11:36back to the Stone Age. Israeli officials
00:11:40said that, and their plan for this is long-term
00:11:43and attrition-based economic pressure,
00:11:46through which they can bring
00:11:50the masses of people in Iran, unemployment,
00:11:52inflation,
00:11:55back to the streets again, and along with that,
00:11:59with economic pressure, continue
00:12:02the asymmetric war, meaning attack
00:12:06nuclear facilities, military
00:12:09facilities, assassinate commanders, assassinate political
00:12:13leaders, I don't know,
00:12:16attack Pasteur Institute, attack bridges, and continue
00:12:19this asymmetric war to collapse the Islamic
00:12:23Republic and to send Iran back to the Stone
00:12:27Age, like Gaza and Syria. Now, whether Trump
00:12:30will be willing to continue this plan with Mr. Netanyahu
00:12:34or not, I think it's still too early,
00:12:37and we don't have a clear
00:12:40answer for that. This is also one of those questions
00:12:44whose answer is very important, but as you said,
00:12:47whatever we say right now is nothing
00:12:50more than speculation. Mr. Barzin, Iranian
00:12:54officials who are seeing the results of this
00:12:57election last night in Iran, and many of them
00:13:00have expressed satisfaction with these conditions
00:13:04on the current X Twitter. How do you think they can
00:13:08use this issue to their advantage right
00:13:11now, if they want to? Look,
00:13:15I think that the Islamic Republic
00:13:19is very systematically pursuing two
00:13:22strategies. It is pursuing two scenarios
00:13:26in the current situation. One is
00:13:30military deterrence, and the other is dialogue
00:13:34and negotiation. Do you understand?
00:13:37Military deterrence means that they have officially,
00:13:40powerfully, and transparently said,
00:13:43"Mr. United States, Mr.
00:13:46Israeli government, if you want to start
00:13:49an existential war against us,
00:13:52we will respond in
00:14:03a way that we will not be confined to a specific
00:14:06geography. We will hit your interests in Europe, we will hit them
00:14:10in East Asia, we will hit them in Latin America. The
00:14:14response will be massive, and we will hit all
00:14:18your assets, not just military bases, planes, artillery,
00:14:21and tanks. We will also hit your internet
00:14:25companies, and we will use the Strait of Hormuz
00:14:28as a lever. We will send divers to plant
00:14:32bombs and blow up your ships. We will create problems for
00:14:35you, we will sabotage, and any country that allows
00:14:39you to pass planes through here or take off planes
00:14:43from here, we will attack its infrastructure, we will
00:14:46cut its internet cables, we will destroy its desalinization
00:14:50plant, we will target its port, and a psychological
00:14:54and propaganda war. These are the things that the Islamic
00:14:57Republic brings up in order to prevent
00:15:01another war from breaking out in Iran.
00:15:04That is,
00:15:06they are pursuing their military deterrence in this way, in my
00:15:10opinion, to prevent another war from
00:15:12happening. If the Islamic Republic
00:15:16is to pursue such a policy,
00:15:19how successful do you think it can
00:15:22be? I understand what you are saying.
00:15:26All these threats are being made to prevent another war
00:15:29from happening, but we know that the US president still
00:15:33has two months. Even if he doesn't want to
00:15:37work with this new Congress, the current Congress will be
00:15:41in power for another two months, and he will have no
00:15:45problem. Even after that, if he wants to attack,
00:15:48no one can stop him. In that
00:15:52case, what do you think the officials of the Islamic Republic
00:15:55have predicted for that situation?
00:15:59Look, I think that the deterrence of the officials
00:16:02of the Islamic Republic is what they are talking about.
00:16:05They will pursue military deterrence with full power,
00:16:09but they know that military deterrence is not enough,
00:16:13and for this reason, they will also pursue
00:16:16negotiation, deal-making, and diplomacy. Do you understand? The fundamental
00:16:20problem we are facing now is that there is a deep
00:16:24history of mistrust between the US and Iran.
00:16:27The JCPOA was negotiated for several years,
00:16:31a deal was made, it failed. They were negotiating,
00:16:34and the US and Israel carried out an illegal
00:16:3812-day aggression. They were negotiating,
00:16:41and the US and Israel carried out an illegal
00:16:4440-day aggression. And therefore, in the
00:16:48current situation, the initial steps that must be taken
00:16:51for negotiation, deal-making, and dialogue are
00:16:55initial confidence-building measures, and confidence-building
00:16:58must proceed step by step, inch by inch.
00:17:02Do you understand? We cannot solve all the problems
00:17:06between two countries at once, and
00:17:09these commitments that are made must be implemented, meaning
00:17:13if one side makes a commitment for something, it must
00:17:17implement it. Leverage against
00:17:20leverage, action against action, and this can
00:17:23create changes
00:17:27in the real political space of relations
00:17:30between the two countries and move things forward. As I see it,
00:17:34if you read Iranian newspapers these days, from hardline
00:17:50newspapers to centrist newspapers like Shargh and Etemad, you will see that they are very complexly, precisely, and instructively considering the possibility of dialogue,
00:17:53meaning now Mr. Pezeshkian, as the president of the country,
00:17:57says that we are ready for negotiations.
00:18:01Javan newspaper also says that the opportunity
00:18:04for agreement should not be missed. The only
00:18:08danger I see here is that Iranian hardliners,
00:18:11the extremist current, my last point,
00:18:13extremist currents in Iran might think that
00:18:17Trump's defeat is an opportunity to put negotiations
00:18:20aside and prioritize the military leverage and
00:18:24military deterrence
00:18:38the US has had various military movements in the Middle East.
00:18:41Some American media reported that Washington's goal in this activity
00:18:45is preparation for effective attacks on Iran. Farzaneh Sefikaran from the
00:18:49BBC Persian fact-checking section reviewed the recent military
00:18:52movements of the US Army.
00:18:55In recent days, coinciding with the approach of the US
00:18:58midterm elections, various reports have been published about the
00:19:02transfer of military equipment by the US Army, including
00:19:05air defense systems, to the Middle East and the
00:19:09possibility of renewed attacks on Iran after the
00:19:12elections. In the latest case, the Israeli news
00:19:16agency Kan reported that 10 US Air Force transport
00:19:19aircraft, as part of a larger air convoy in the Middle East
00:19:23that is supposed to move military equipment throughout
00:19:27the region, have been deployed
00:19:30to Israeli Air Force bases.
00:19:33According to this report, the planes took off from
00:19:36here, meaning Fort Bliss in Texas,
00:19:40and are likely carrying air defense systems,
00:19:43and the purpose of their transfer is to protect
00:19:47US regional positions and facilities.
00:19:50Fort Bliss is one of the largest
00:19:53warehouses for US Army air defense equipment.
00:19:56For this reason, it is likely that US Army aircraft were
00:20:00sent to resupply the air defense interceptor
00:20:04missiles stationed in Israel.
00:20:08Missiles used in air defense systems such
00:20:12as THAAD and Patriot. In recent months, various
00:20:15reports have also been published showing that the
00:20:19missiles of these systems have significantly decreased
00:20:22due to the war with Iran. In
00:20:25a report published by Israeli media, it was not specified
00:20:29what type of transport aircraft were transferred to Israel.
00:20:33However, it is likely that these aircraft are C-35 Super
00:20:36Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster, or a combination
00:20:40of both, because only these aircraft have the ability
00:20:43to carry such heavy payloads.
00:20:47Our investigations in the fact-checking section
00:20:51through the Flight Radar website also show that in
00:20:54recent days, several US military transport
00:20:58aircraft, including the C-17 Globemaster, have entered
00:21:01the Middle East, and some have also
00:21:04left the Middle East. Last week, the Wall
00:21:08Street Journal also reported that the US Army is
00:21:11transferring Patriot air and missile defense
00:21:14systems from Texas to the Middle East.
00:21:18The Patriot system
00:21:20includes radar equipment, a control station,
00:21:24missile launchers, and interceptor missiles,
00:21:27and according to US officials interviewed by the Wall
00:21:30Street Journal, they are being transferred to the Middle
00:21:34East to strengthen US defense capabilities and
00:21:38as part of preparations for a possible increase
00:21:41in tensions. We had previously reported, based on satellite
00:21:45images, that Iran has been able to target some US
00:21:49air defense systems in countries like Jordan,
00:21:52Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates during the 40-day
00:21:56war. For example, these two
00:22:00images are related to the Shahid Muwafaq air base
00:22:04in Jordan and Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.
00:22:07In the top image, it is clear that the radar of a THAAD
00:22:11missile system at Shahid Muwafaq base was targeted
00:22:15and destroyed in the early days of the war with Iran.
00:22:18The price of this radar is said to be around
00:22:22500 million dollars, and in the bottom image, at
00:22:26Prince Sultan air base, which is from early March
00:22:30this year, it is said that a severely burned radar and
00:22:33remnants of equipment are scattered
00:22:36around it.
00:22:39However, in addition to all these cases, in mid-
00:22:42August this year, the US Central Command,
00:22:46or CENTCOM, announced the formation of the first offensive task
00:22:51force called Falcon Strike Task Force,
00:22:55in cooperation with regional partners. This is the first
00:22:59dedicated squadron of the US Army for deploying
00:23:02one-way attack drones in the Middle East.
00:23:05And last but not least, this satellite
00:23:09image, which is from today, shows the USS Theodore
00:23:13Roosevelt warship in the South China Sea, moving
00:23:16westward, meaning towards
00:23:20the CENTCOM area of responsibility in the Middle East. With
00:23:22the arrival of the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier
00:23:26in the Middle East, the number of US aircraft
00:23:29carriers stationed near Iran will reach three.
00:23:32Of course, for now, speculation is that this ship will
00:23:36go to the CENTCOM region, and no confirmed report
00:23:39has been published about this yet. All these
00:23:42military developments, however, in the months and weeks
00:23:46leading up to the US elections, have increased speculation
00:23:50about the possibility of renewed attacks on Iran after the midterm
00:23:54elections. That was Farzaneh Seyfikaran.
00:23:57My colleague Behrang Tajdin is also here with us to give
00:24:01us the latest details of the Congress election results. Many
00:24:04polls predicted that the 2026 midterm elections would
00:24:08result in a Democratic victory, but few
00:24:12expected their victory to be
00:24:14so widespread. You can see that they won the majority
00:24:18in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, even though
00:24:22the results of dozens of seats in this House are still
00:24:25unknown. 35 seats in the US Senate
00:24:28were up for election, and these
00:24:32are the results. The blue
00:24:34ones were won by Democrats, and the red ones
00:24:38by Republicans. The striped states are where seats
00:24:42changed hands between the two parties. Let's start
00:24:44with a historic victory in Kansas,
00:24:47a state whose Senate seats
00:24:51had been held by Republicans since 1932, almost
00:24:55a century ago. But a moderate pastor named
00:24:58Adam Hamilton changed this trend
00:25:01in favor of the Democrats after nine
00:25:04minutes and won by about four percent.
00:25:08Another significant state and another significant
00:25:11Democratic victory was in Texas,
00:25:14a religious and conservative state that is considered
00:25:18a traditional Republican stronghold. But James Talarico
00:25:22managed to defeat Donald Trump's endorsed
00:25:25candidate, Compton, by about a million votes,
00:25:28almost 12 percent. For more than three decades,
00:25:32Democrats had not had a representative from Texas
00:25:36in the US Senate, but even more unexpectedly,
00:25:39the Democrats won in South Carolina,
00:25:43where until a few months ago, Lindsey Graham
00:25:46was the senator, someone who had been
00:25:50active in recent years in the discussion of US policy
00:25:53towards Iran and was considered a strong advocate
00:25:57of a US-Israel war with Iran. Of course, Mr. Graham passed
00:26:00away a few months ago. His
00:26:08sister, with support, achieved their first victory
00:26:10in such an election in South Carolina in almost
00:26:1428 years. Democrats also
00:26:17won Senate seats in other states, including Iowa,
00:26:21Ohio, where J.D. Vance was the senator
00:26:24just two years ago, North Carolina,
00:26:28and Maine. They were also able to take those seats
00:26:31from Republicans. Only two states remain. One is
00:26:35Mississippi, where after counting nearly 1
00:26:38million votes, the difference between the Democratic candidate
00:26:41and the Republican candidate is about 65 votes.
00:26:45It is so close that the result may take
00:26:48a long time. The other is Alaska, where the Democratic
00:26:52candidate is ahead of his rival by about 626
00:26:55votes. But alongside these, a significant historical
00:26:59event also happened in Michigan, a state
00:27:03whose seat had been held by Democrats for almost half
00:27:07a century, but in a close
00:27:09internal competition, Abdul-Rahman Syed,
00:27:13known as Abdul al-Sayyid, as they say in America,
00:27:16was able to win the Democratic Party's
00:27:19nomination for this seat in the party's internal
00:27:23election, and now he becomes the first
00:27:26Muslim senator in American history. With this, so far, Democrats
00:27:29have been able to add seven seats
00:27:32to their Senate seats, and this
00:27:36means that Democrats will control the majority
00:27:39of this House and the House
00:27:42of Representatives for the next two
00:27:45years. This blue wave of Democratic victories
00:27:49in Congress could make things more difficult for
00:27:52Donald Trump in the last two years of his presidency
00:27:55in some ways.
00:27:57Thank you,
00:28:00Behrang. Behrang Tajdin was
00:28:02telling us about this blue wave. But for more discussion
00:28:06on this, Anne Green, a Republican
00:28:09strategist, former speechwriter for George
00:28:13W. Bush, and also senior director of the White
00:28:16House Writers Group consulting center, is with us
00:28:19from Washington. How did you see
00:28:22this result? How much could such a thing be
00:28:26predicted from your perspective? Many polls said that Democrats
00:28:30would win, but with what difference?
00:29:02his party, another party defeats him,
00:29:05but this time we saw a very great
00:29:09acquittal of Donald Trump's policies.
00:29:13voters
00:29:16whether it's fuel costs or immigration
00:29:20or living costs, it seems that a lot of chaos
00:29:23has happened that Donald Trump has not addressed.
00:29:27Of course, he did address his promise to
00:29:30close the borders. He did address it and he acted
00:29:34on it, but really the Department
00:29:38of Homeland Security has been
00:29:42very aggressive and offensive in its
00:29:45behavior, and these behaviors
00:29:49and
00:29:51the way immigrants have been treated have disappointed many of his voters.
00:29:55He probably saw Mr. Vance's
00:29:58tweet and post. He
00:30:03mentions four reasons why the Republicans lost
00:30:07in these elections, and the most important one from his perspective
00:30:11is the war with Iran, and finally he says we need to change our strategy,
00:30:14change our policy towards Israel.
00:30:18How much do you agree with him? It seems that views
00:30:22in America are more or less changing on many
00:30:25issues that were previously taken very seriously, like this
00:30:29relationship with Israel.