Did Iran prolong talks to influence US midterms?published at 13:12 GMT

13:12 GMT

Jiyar Gol
World Affairs Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Once again, Iran has played a significant role in American elections.

On this very day 47 years ago Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran, taking American diplomats hostage. The 444-day crisis contributed to Jimmy Carter’s defeat by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.

Now, the war with Iran, along with soaring energy prices and the rising cost of living, has led to major Republican losses in the midterms and handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress.

Analysts close to the Iranian regime, appearing on state television, have openly discussed prolonging negotiations with Washington and maintaining pressure on oil supplies, in the hope that the economic fallout would weaken President Trump politically and undermine Republican prospects in the elections.

Nearly a half-century ago, Iran released its American hostages just minutes after Reagan was sworn into office, January 20, 1981.

Tehran may now hope that a Democratic-controlled Congress will limit Trump’s ability to launch another major military offensive against Iran.

But while Congress can restrict funding and challenge presidential decisions, Trump, as the US commander in chief, still retains considerable authority over military operations and foreign policy.

Trump's impact on inflation and cost of living - a closer lookpublished at 13:02 GMT

13:02 GMT

By Ben Chu, policy and analysis correspondent

Donald Trump’s second term has disappointed many Americans who thought he was going to bring prices down. The economy was seen by US voters as the key issue heading into this election.

So what impact have Trump's policies had on US inflation and the cost of living?

The price of gasoline and diesel have risen sharply in the wake of the US strikes on Iran on 28 February.

In the case of diesel, the average price in October was $6.25 (£4.63) a gallon (3.8l), a record high and higher than seen in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Trump had promised when campaigning for a second term in 2024 to get gasoline prices below $2 (£1.48) a gallon. The average price in October was $4.31 (£3.19) a gallon.

The impact of Trump’s war with Iran can also clearly been seen in the overall rate of US consumer price inflation, which climbed to an annual rate of 3.7% in September.

Economists also estimate that US consumer prices are higher as a result of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs (taxes on imports) from 2 April 2025, which have pushed up the prices of a wide range of imported products.

Rebecka Pieder
Reporting from Washington DC

In another first of the night, Amy Acton becomes the first woman elected to be governor of Ohio.

Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy in a fiercely fought race over the governorship of the Midwestern state. The race drew global attention last month when Ramaswamy released an ad where Acton was called a liar by her mother.

Alongside Acton other women who made history on Tuesday include Deb Haaland, who became the first female Native American governor of New Mexico, and Keisha Lance Bottoms, who when elected in Georgia became the first black female governor of a state.

Image source, Getty Images

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

Image source, X/Reuters

The Democrats have flipped the Senate and House in the midterm elections, riding what US media has branded a "blue Tsunami" across the US.

Here's a reminder of some of the key moments of the election so far:

Red seats turn blue: Kansas has elected its first Democrat senator since 1932 - when Franklin D Roosevelt became president and the Great Depression gripped the US. Texas also elected its first Democrat senator in over 30 years.

A series of firsts: Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim senator after winning in Michigan. Meanwhile, Georgia Democrat Kiesha Lance Bottoms will become the first black woman to ever be elected governor. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire will become the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate and New Mexico's Deb Haaland is the first Native American woman elected governor.

Two Dans Sullivan: A retired teacher with the same name as the Republican candidate Dan Sullivan has created a stir in the Alaskan senate race. A judge dismissed a lawsuit ahead of the election by the Trump administration that argued the confusion could take support from its candidate. The other Dan Sullivan has been dubbed "Decoy Dan". (As of the time of this post's publication, the "real" Dan Sullivan is ahead in the polls.)

Not over yet: An extremely tight race for the US Senate has been unfolding in Mississippi. At one stage Democrat Scott Colom led Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by just a razor-thin margin of 28 votes.

Peggy Flanagan makes history today as the first Native American woman elected to the US Senate, after winning her race in Minnesota.

Flanagan’s win is a milestone for an election that has seen a series of historic firsts.

In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms has become the the first black female governor elected in US history, while Chris Pappas, of New Hampshire, becomes the first openly gay male senator.

Take a scroll through the graphic below for more.

Image source, Reuters

A wave of Democrat blue has washed over some historically Republican seats in both the Senate and House.

As things stand,seven seats have flipped in the Senate and 21 in the House of Representatives so far.

South Carolina saw Democrat Annie Andrews defeat Republican incumbent Darline Graham - sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

The last time Democrats won a Senate seat in the state was 1998, with a blue victory there not being on anyone's radar just a few weeks ago, writes Washington correspondent Daniel Bush.

A dramatic outcome was also seen in Ohio, a solid Republican stronghold throughout the Trump era, when Democrats were projected to flip a seat in the Senate with Sherrod Brown and the governor race through Amy Acton.

Maine's Senate seat also flipped to Democrat Troy Jackson, where Republican incumbent Susan Collins had served for nearly 30 years.

Image source, New York Post

An analysis in The New York Times describes how angry voters are ushering in the "beginning of the end to the Trump era".

"Voters swing to Democrats," says the front page of The Washington Post. The newspaper describes how the "party is poised to take power on Capitol Hill with an eagerness to thwart Trump's agenda".

New York Post declares a "Blue Tsunami" on its front page after "Dems romp" in midterms.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Democrats have taken Congress "in stunning blue wave" but warns that the Los Angeles mayoral race remains too close to call.

The Boston Globe leads with the headline: "Democrats set to take Congress in sweeping rebuke of Trump".

Image source, The Boston Globe

Trump has left open the possibility of fresh strikes on Iranpublished at 11:55 GMT

11:55 GMT

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter in Washington DC

Image source, EPA

Ahead of the midterms, many Democrats - and some Republicans - had expressed concern that a renewed US military against Iran might be just over the horizon.

The midterms were a stunning rebuke of Trump's Iran policy, and even he has acknowledged that concerns over high petrol prices may have played a role - even if he has so far refused to take any responsibility for the losses of Republican candidates up and down the ballot.

Trump has repeatedly left open the possibility that further strikes may be necessarily, potentially against "Pickaxe Mountain", one of the few sites associated with Iran's nuclear programme that was not struck during Operation Epic Fury earlier this year.

In a telephone interview with Politico earlier, Trump again suggested that something may be coming.

"We're going to take a look, and if we see any opportunity to do one thing or another, we're going to do what's best for this country," he said.

A return to full-scale operations in Iran would be unpopular with most Americans.

Trump, however, shrugged off that his choice to go to Iran was the wrong one.

"I am totally convinced that my decision on Iran, for the long-term good of our country and even the world, was absolutely correct," he said. "And it continues to be."

China will see midterm results as an opportunitypublished at 11:49 GMT

11:49 GMT

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

China will see an opportunity as it watches the results roll in.

The relationship between Beijing and Washington is the great power competition of this century, and President Xi Jinping will perhaps feel he has the upper hand as he prepares to greet Donald Trump in China later this month.

Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the US in a bid to protect American manufacturers from cheap Chinese products.

But his plan backfired when Xi retaliated with huge tariffs of his own. It meant many goods became more expensive for Americans, including small family luxuries like toys and clothes.

China also stopped buying US agricultural products, hurting farmers in Trump supporting states.

That trade war ended in a truce which is due to expire at the end of January and China may feel Trump will be licking his wounds after the midterms and looking for to do a deal.

Xi will see a chance to make it a better one for China.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says those who think changes in US politics will bring about a shift in "US hostility towards Iran" are "gravely mistaken".

Khamenei also threatened that if the US strikes Iran again the response "will expand to an even greater magnitude".

The supreme leader - who succeeded his father Ali Khamenei after he was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on 28 February - has not been seen in public for months.

The comments come from a six-page written message issued today which marks the 1979 US embassy seizure in Tehran.

Jacob Evans
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

It's little surprise to see that some leaders targeted by President Trump have welcomed these emphatic results for the Democratic Party.

• Spain's left-wing Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said Americans had voted against hate, climate denialism and the privileged elite
• Jonas Støre, prime minister of Norway - which Trump has vilified in recent weeks for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize - said voices were emerging in America that were more aligned with Oslo's principles
• Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa- which Trump had accused of committing a genocide against white people - said the elections would introduce a new era in world relations
• Meanwhile, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose, said she was cautiously optimistic that the result could mean greater support for Ukraine

Gulf states neutral on Democrat winspublished at 11:34 GMT

11:34 GMT

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

In theory, this electoral setback for "Project Trump" might, in other times, have been seen as a setback for the Gulf Arab states.

The president and his family have close personal and business relationships with many of them.

There is a Trump International Golf Course in Dubai, Qatar gifted him a US$400m (£296.8m) plane while the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have collectively invested billions of dollars in Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Capital.

Trump also chose Riyadh as his first overseas destination in his first presidential term in 2017.

The Saudis had an especially strained relationship with his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden – remember that awkward fist bump with the Saudi Crown Prince in 2022?

Gulf leaders also had strong misgivings about President Obama after he failed to punish Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad for using poison gas.

But this year’s Iran war has changed the way people think about Trump.

As one commentator put it, "President Trump set fire to the Gulf" (on February 28th) and there remains a fear that he could still reignite that war, causing Iran to retaliate by unleashing devastation on their own critical national infrastructure.

In our next few posts we'll take a look at international reaction the wins and losses in the US midterm elections.

The economy was seen by US voters as the key issue heading into this election.

The Voter Poll, conducted by pollsters SSRS, gathered a representative sample of American voters by interviewing tens of thousands of midterm voters.

Asked what the most important issue facing the country was, 39% said the economy, followed the state of democracy at 32%.

Additionally, 65% of voters believed Trump's polices had worsened the US economy, with 79% reporting that they had experienced "severe or moderate" hardship within the last year due to inflation.

Few European tears are being shed for Republican Partypublished at 11:21 GMT

11:21 GMT

Katya Adler
Europe editor

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Donald Trump doesn't have too many fans in Europe - just take a look at opinion polls.

Even amongst European nationalist political parties - who use Donald Trump’s Make American Great Again tactics - few tears are being shed for this midterm slap in the face for the Republican Party.

That said, Europe is bracing itself for what might come next.

The fear is that a wounded President Trump, beleaguered at home in the US, might use foreign policy to "show he’s still boss".

Might he lash out at Europe with yet more trade tariffs, Europeans worry?

Might he - as he appeared to suggest just before the midterms - attack Iran again, thereby pushing up global - energy prices even further?

As for Ukraine, Europe has often privately worried about what they perceive as Trump’s apparent admiration for Vladimir Putin.

Will he now launch business deals with Russia and try to end more sanctions, they wonder?

Might Ukraine’s struggle be forgotten and sidelined by the Trump administration as it gets sucked in to the domestic politics that will now engulf Washington following these midterms?

Daniel Wainwright
Data journalist

Donald Trump’s approval ratings as president are on track to be his lowest recorded at an election, including in 2020, when he lost to Joe Biden.

A total of 38% of people surveyed by the Voter Poll said they approved of the way he was handling his job as president.

This is down from 44% in 2018 - his first midterm election as president - and 47% in 2020, according to data from the Associated Press.

This compares with 43% who approved of Biden overall at his midterms in 2022 and 42% in 2024, when Trump was re-elected for a non-consecutive second term.

The BBC’s broadcast partner in the US, CBS News, reported that Trump’s approval rating is lower than that for George W. Bush in 2006, external, when his party lost both houses of Congress.

More data is being added to the survey, so the numbers may change.

Shaimaa Khalil
North America correspondent in Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska is still counting votes, and the Senate race remains close.

Before Dan Sullivan’s watch party ended in Anchorage, I spoke to two Republican state senators who had different takes on President Donald Trump.

I asked Rob Yundt whether Trump’s endorsement could hurt the incumbent after Republican losses elsewhere.

"It’s not helping anybody," he said. Was he concerned?

"Absolutely."

Bert Stedman says Trump has been "very positive for the state of Alaska. I think personally a lot of people take his showmanship too seriously and his comments too literal" he told me.

He also gave Democrat Mary Peltola credit for "bringing politics to the kitchen table", citing heating bills, groceries and healthcare.

Both senators insisted that a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, a retired teacher some have dubbed "Decoy Dan", had confused some voters and could make a difference in a race this close.

Most voters we spoke to have said that they could tell the two apart on the ballot.

Rachel Flynn
Live reporter

Millions of Americans are waking up to a shifting political reality.

Before today, the Republican Party controlled Congress, which creates and passes laws that apply nationwide. But two years into Trump's second term as president, the Democrats have won big.

Democrats now control Congress' two chambers, the House and the Senate, and have flipped seats in Texas, Kansas, Maine, and South Carolina for the first time in decades.

The results came in thick and fast, and a few races are still outstanding. Alaska and Mississippi are still pending, with no projections yet on who will win Senate seats there. Take a look through the key moments in the Democrats' victorious night.

It's terrible news for Trump, who acknowledged the Iran war and higher fuel prices played a part in his party's defeat. The president spoke to Fox News after the result became clear - what else did he put it down to?

It has been a history-making night for both parties.

A historic defeat for the Republican Party, which lots its Senate seat in Kansas for the first time since 1932. And a historic win for the Democrats in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim to be elected to the Senate.

We're continuing to digest the news, and we'll bring you the latest here through the day. Stick with us.

Adam Hamilton's win in Kansas marks the first time Democrats won a Senate seat there since 1932 - that's the year Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

James Talarico is the first Democrat to win the Texas Senate seat since 1988, when George Michael's album Faith topped the charts.

Annie Andrews's South Carolina win marks the first time Democrats won a Senate seat there since 1998, the same year Titanic won the best picture at the Oscars.

Maine's Senate seat has flipped to Democrat Troy Jackson, where Republican incumbent Susan Collins served for nearly 30 years.

This year's Texas Senate race is the most expensive non-presidential race on record, with more than half a billion spent on advertising. Elsewhere, Elon Musk spent more than $200m (£148m) to support Republican Ken Paxton, who lost - more on this here.

A huge poll of voters suggests women turned out in numbers and most voted Democrat. Men, on the other hand, were evenly split between the two main parties.