Iran's chief negotiator with the United States says American voters delivered a clear no to war, after Republicans suffered heavy midterm losses that President Donald Trump partly blamed on the Iran conflict.

Parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf wrote that Americans had voted against the war and that Tehran endorsed that message. He warned that if Washington ignored its own public to serve what he called foreign paymasters, Iran's refusal would come with severe consequences.

Trump has acknowledged that the fighting and the jump in petrol prices hurt Republican candidates, while insisting he does not regret launching the campaign and saying the war ends when he decides it ends. In recent weeks he has also left open the chance of renewed all out strikes with Israel if no deal is reached.

The exchange captures the strange symmetry of the moment. Iranian officials cast the ballot box as proof that the war is unpopular in America. The White House still claims authority to continue or expand operations. Mediators and markets are left reading both the vote and the threats as they wait for the next concrete proposal or the next raid.