Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has urged Americans to vote against allies of US President Donald Trump in Congress as American forces prepared to withdraw from their remaining bases in Iraq on Wednesday. Tehran has portrayed the withdrawal as a victory, while Qatar continued efforts to mediate between Iran and the United States after seven months of war.
In a 26-page letter published on Tuesday, the Revolutionary Guards called on Americans to use their political power to remove current leaders from office and reject US support for Israel and military intervention abroad. “Remove from power the evil, deceitful, and violent politicians who are responsible for America’s current state,” the letter said. “Make sure your politicians understand that the world has changed.” The appeal comes ahead of the November 3 congressional elections, when control of one or both chambers could change.
The letter is unlikely to reach large numbers of US voters, but it addresses issues that US political analysts say are working against Trump and the Republican Party. Trump campaigned in 2024 on promises to avoid new wars, end existing conflicts and reduce inflation. The war with Iran, launched by Trump alongside Israel, has contributed to higher global fuel prices and widened the conflict across the Middle East. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on September 21 found that 17% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while 34% approved of the strikes on Iran.
The US withdrawal from Iraq was agreed in 2024 under former President Joe Biden and is being completed under Trump. It comes 23 years after US-led forces invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein, setting off years of upheaval that eventually contributed to the rise of Islamic State. Iran says its broader objective is to remove American forces from the Middle East and has described the departure from Iraq as a success for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups.
The war has involved Iranian allies including Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and militias in Iraq. The United States and Iran have held several rounds of talks and observed several ceasefires, but have not reached an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war began in February, the strategic waterway carried about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas. Iran has restricted tanker traffic through the strait while also carrying out missile and drone attacks against US allies in the Gulf, contributing to higher global energy prices.
Qatar has again taken on a mediating role after helping support a June memorandum of understanding that produced a brief ceasefire. US and Iranian officials held separate discussions with Qatari mediators on Monday. “We are exchanging messages between the parties, and we’re working towards establishing a common ground in order to get into a deal that would save all of us from the repercussions of the conflict,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.
Trump has continued to insist that Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon and that the conflict will end soon. “I don’t know if they are going to give up yet but they’ll give up,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “They are doing very poorly.”
Iran’s conventional forces have been weakened and its economy damaged by the conflict, but Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks on US allies in the Gulf and restrictions on tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. At the United Nations General Assembly last week, Iran proposed a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and pausing the fighting. Trump rejected the proposal on Saturday, although Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Washington had not formally communicated its rejection through mediators.
Trump has cited the weakening of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, its ability to attack neighbouring countries and the creation of conditions for Iranians to change their leadership among his objectives. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, that it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
