‘Skip the TED talk’: Iran trolls Vance over midterm defeat analysis

A senior Iranian official mocked JD Vance on Thursday for a lengthy social media post in which the U.S. vice president conceded that the American-Israeli war on Iran caused the Republican Party’s midterm election meltdown this week. “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?” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, shot back at Vance. In his screed on X, published less than 24 hours after the Republicans suffered an election wipeout, Vance pointed to four things that needed to happen for voters to return to the party in future ballots. “1) End the war. 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation. 3) Put America First. 4) Change our relationship to Israel,” Vance argued, in a missive that he personally drafted and which marked his first post-election attempt to distance himself from a war that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended. The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 this year, decapitating much of its top leadership. But the Tehran regime retaliated by attacking U.S. targets in the Middle East and closing off the Strait of Hormuz — a vital maritime chokepoint for the supply of oil and gas — by threatening ships attempting to traverse the waterway. The standoff drove up the price of fuels and fertilizer, which raised the cost-of-living in the U.S. and contributed to a brutal electoral environment for the Republicans, who suffered a generational defeat on Tuesday night. While Vance stated that “the reason we lost is the war,” Trump has been insistent that the conflict is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.