WASHINGTON — The eight-month war with Iran hung over the first day of the new political order in Washington on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump conceded the conflict was partly to blame for his party’s heavy losses in the midterm elections, and energy markets braced for his next move, according to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
“Iran was a piece of it,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in a telephone interview on Tuesday night, when asked whether the war contributed to the Republican performance. He said the rise in oil prices, rather than the war itself, was the biggest political liability, because gasoline and diesel prices have shot up as a result of the conflict. But he said he did not regret launching the war, rejected the idea that the results were a rebuke of his presidency, and said he had no plans to change personnel, expressing support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has led the war effort.
Europe’s gas market waits
European natural-gas prices rose on Wednesday morning as traders waited to see whether Trump pursues diplomacy with Iran or orders renewed strikes, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Dutch TTF benchmark, Europe’s main gas contract, gained 1.5 percent to 93.02 euros a megawatt-hour in early trading. Prices climbed above 100 euros last week, their highest since late December 2022, before easing on hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough. Another escalation could send prices sharply higher again, analysts told the Journal. Liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar, the world’s second-largest LNG exporter, are slowly recovering, according to data firm Kpler cited by the Journal.
Talks reported far from a deal
Diplomacy has not yet produced an agreement. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran and the United States remain far from a deal to end their war, even as Qatar stepped up mediation efforts to avert an escalation after the midterms. The United States carried out what an American official called “defensive” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm island on Tuesday, targeting surface-to-air missiles used against U.S. assets, and Trump told the Financial Times he had no immediate plans to strike Iran, according to Reuters. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried about 20 percent of global oil supplies, has redrawn energy flows and pushed up prices worldwide.
What happens next
The new Democratic Congress does not take office until January, which leaves the administration free to pursue its current approach toward Iran in the coming weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Once seated, Democratic majorities are expected to increase scrutiny of the war. Separately, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are planned in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11.
Read The Wall Street Journal report: Trump Acknowledges Iran War Is Partly to Blame for Republican Losses.
