Iran just threatened to bomb the Gulf states hosting American troops
1 hour ago · 4 November 2026Share
The western front of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., home to the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. Noclip · Public domain
Democrats just took both chambers of Congress.
And Donald Trump just said his war with Iran is part of why.
So what actually flipped? At least six Senate seats, giving Democrats a 52-seat majority. The House too. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, is on track to become speaker. He'd be the first Black lawmaker to ever hold that job. The new Congress gets sworn in on 3 January 2027.
Some of the seats that flipped tell their own story. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews beat Republican Darline Graham. First Democrat to win that seat since 1998. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico beat Ken Paxton, the attorney general Trump himself backed. Sherrod Brown took back his old seat in Ohio. And Roy Cooper flipped North Carolina.
Now here's Trump connecting the dots himself. He told Fox News, says quote "I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time people understood the importance of what I've done with Iran".
And a month ago, Pew Research found only three in ten Americans approved of how he'd run his first two years.
So what does a Democratic Congress actually change?
It can block Trump's war funding. It can block his judicial nominees too. Al-Monitor reports that once the new Senate convenes in January, it may try to choke off money for the Iran war by attaching conditions to the Pentagon's budget. A new war powers resolution to end the war is also expected to pass. The last attempt failed by a single vote back in September, 49 to 50, in a Senate Republicans still controlled. That detail comes from one source only, and it hasn't been confirmed elsewhere.
Trump says none of it matters. He'll veto it. He told Fox News, says quote "They'll send over things that are insane, and I'll veto them".
And he's not backing down on the war itself either. He told the Wall Street Journal he stands by it completely, saying he did the right thing and would do it again.
The rest of this story is for members.
View of Iran taken during ISS Expedition 59, showing the Shatt al-Arab wetlands, Abadan Island, and the Persian Gulf. File photo. Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domain
So that's the president saying the war cost his party Congress — and telling everyone he'd do it again anyway.
Iran noticed all of this. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, posted online, says quote "Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message".
That's Iran reading the US election as proof its own position is winning.
But Iran isn't just watching. It's warning too. Hamidreza Moghadamfar, an adviser to the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, told a rally in Bandar Abbas that Iran would hit back with a new doctrine and new technology. And he said something sharper: if Gulf states like the UAE and Bahrain let America launch attacks from their soil, Iran's response won't stay limited to military bases.
That's a warning aimed at the Gulf states hosting American troops, not just at Washington.
And it follows something bigger from the top. Four days ago, Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, met his three most senior military commanders. He ordered what Iran calls a maximum deterrence plan. Immediate response to any US or Israeli attack. No geographical limits. An expanded list of American and Israeli targets. Ahmad Vahidi, the IRGC's commander, told that same meeting that weapons production has increased several times over. Worth knowing: this account comes from Iran's own state-linked statement, carried by Axios. It's Iran's version of its own readiness, not an outside check on it.
The war itself started on 28 February. It's now nine months old. The US and Iran are still talking through Qatar to try to end it. Just days before the election, the US military bombed targets on Iran's Qeshm Island. That happened hours after Vice President JD Vance had said he was optimistic about a deal.
So here's where things stand. A Congress that can block war money and might try to end the war by law. A president promising to veto anything they send him. And an Iranian government telling both Washington and the Gulf states hosting American troops that the next strike won't stay contained.
Nobody has said whether the Gulf states will actually let America launch from their territory. Nobody has said whether Senate Democrats have the votes to override a veto. And nobody outside Tehran can say whether Iran's warning is a real plan or just leverage at the table.
Nothing here was paid for by an advertiser. Members are the entire business model. Bronze is where it starts, and it opens the last seven days in full.
