Iran has been directing messages at the American public highlighting the economic costs of the war launched by the United States and Israel against the country, as midterm elections approach next month.
Iranian officials have published articles in state-affiliated outlets stressing what they describe as the disastrous impact of the war on oil prices and the broader US economy.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been among the most active voices, directly targeting US officials over rising costs and military spending.
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said Tehran is seeking to raise the political cost of the war for President Trump by communicating directly with the American public.
"It's not necessarily that they're trying to get Democrats in power or manipulate US politics in a certain direction, other than just overall increasing the costs on this issue of the Iran war, and just playing that game of information warfare and getting out their own narrative and propaganda as well," Toossi said.
Trump's Republican Party is seeking to retain control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in next month's midterm vote. The Democratic Party, which largely opposes the war with Iran, is mounting a strong challenge across the congressional electoral map, including in areas that have been conservative strongholds for decades, such as Texas.
On Wednesday, Ghalibaf shared a news story reporting that inflation rose to 3.7 percent last month, alongside a collage of negative headlines about the US economy. The social media post also featured a comic strip from the Road Runner cartoon showing Wile E. Coyote building a catapult that misfires and launches a boulder back at him.
"Let's 'play the percentages'. Not in odds, but in the % increases," Ghalibaf wrote in a message addressed to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been leading the sanctions campaign against Iran.
Bessent said last month that he represents "the house," likening the economy to a casino while addressing the national debt and bond market. Ghalibaf's remark appeared to reference the rising cost of living, underscoring that inflation continues to climb despite Bessent's assertions.
Days earlier, Ghalibaf shared an image of a ghost shaped like a bell curve, with diesel prices rising and housing affordability and consumer confidence falling.
Since the start of the war on February 28, Iran has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, sending energy prices soaring. In the United States, the price of diesel has reached an all-time record of $6.33 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association, while gas stands at $4.33, up from less than $3 before the war began.
Iran has intensified its attacks on vessels around the strait in recent days, following repeated statements by Trump and his aides that the waterway is under US control.
The surge in energy prices has fuelled broader inflation, prompting the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates last month at a time when Trump has been publicly calling for them to be cut in order to stimulate economic activity.
In a letter addressed to the American public on September 29, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Trump of lying about the cost of the war and the state of the US economy, dismissing the president's claims that oil prices would soon fall sharply.
"Countries around the world have lost their faith in the US economy. Demand for American bonds has plummeted. In fact, countries are starting to offload their US bonds. Soon, the dam will break, and the economy will implode, causing, unfortunately, great pain for Americans for many many years," the IRGC said.
"Americans need to wake up. They need to wrest control back from corrupt politicians. Now is the time, as the American political system is at its weakest," the statement continued.
The US midterm elections are widely seen as a turning point in the conflict, not because of their potential outcome, but because of what Trump may choose to do after the vote.
