By Monica Moorehead
October 27, 2026

The U.S. and Israel announced on Oct. 22 that they are planning military strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, with the aim of toppling the Iranian government. The Zionist elections for a new Knesset (Israeli parliament), including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu running for reelection, are scheduled for Oct. 27.

The U.S. and Israel carried out a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28, massacring over 168 school children in Minab and assassinating the beloved Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since that fateful day, Iran has shut down and restricted any commercial ships from using the Strait of Hormuz, which is used to more efficiently transport vital supplies like oil, food and commercial goods. This justifiable move by Iran continues to wreak havoc on the world economy, including in the U.S.

Despite ongoing military and economic attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, along with more U.S. sanctions, Iran has been winning the war. Iran has shut down the majority of U.S. bases throughout West Asia, forcing the evacuation of troops, leading to growing demoralization and opposition to the war among GIs.

Whether an attack by the U.S. and Israel will actually be carried out could depend on the outcomes of both elections, with both President #47’s and Netanyahu’s administrations facing deepening political crises and permanent fallout in their economies. And because of these crises, the war on Iran has become overwhelmingly unpopular in the U.S. and is becoming more unpopular in Israel.

For instance, there have been mass anti-Netanyahu protests in Tel Aviv leading up to the election. Just recently, Itimar Ben Gvir, Israel’s ultraright minister of national security, was forced to abandon the stage at the University of Tel Aviv when protesters disrupted his talk with chants of “There will be no fascism here!”

People pay the cost of war

The Israeli economy continues to plummet, not only due to mounting military debts with its war on Iran while battling with the resistance movement Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also from its ongoing genocide in Gaza and siege of the West Bank. The war debt of over USD $321 billion amounts to close to 70% of Israel’s gross domestic product since the Hamas-led Al-Aqsa flood on Oct. 7, 2023.

As of Sept 3, the Department of Defense has spent over $47 billion on the war against Iran, 25% more than the DoD estimate in July (Reuters, Oct 27) According to Moody’s Analytics, the war cost an estimated $2,000 per U.S. household so far, including knock-on effects. The war, which #47 declared would end quickly in the spring, caused his popularity rating to plummet to 22%. It is no wonder that #47 is worried that the Republican Party will lose its majority votes in both Houses of Congress on Nov. 3.

According to a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, a report from the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan stated that since the start of the war against Iran, consumer confidence has been at its lowest point in modern history. The reasons given were that increased wages have not kept up with inflation; grocery prices rose by 4.1% over the past two years (Bureau of Labor Statistics); gasoline prices have risen by 35% over two years as of Oct. 15, 2024-26; and mortgage payments have risen to over 7.1% for a 30-year fixed rate as of Oct. 18.

No matter what happens after these elections, they will not change the fact that the real culprits in this war of aggression are Israel and the U.S. They not only want to overthrow the sovereign and independent government of Iran, but want to control the strategic waterways of the Strait of Hormuz to dominate the world’s commerce.

These war threats are not a sign of strength but a sign of fear and desperation over how the global capitalist economic crisis is impacting both countries. For the U.S. and Israel, war is the only answer as uprisings, especially led by youth and students, first begun in the Global South, have spread like wildfire throughout the Global North.

And the political compass for all these uprisings is the Axis of Resistance, in Occupied Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. And it is important for the antiwar movement in the imperialist centers, especially in the U.S. and Europe, to be on the alert to organize a sustained anti-imperialist mobilization in the streets among both U.S. civilians and the military rank and file.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stressed that if the United States chooses war over diplomacy, it will certainly suffer a strategic defeat far greater than those of the past.