Iran’s Military Pushes Midterm Sway

Voting booth with American flag design in a modern polling place — Photo: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told Americans how to vote weeks before the midterms, pushing them to reject Trump-aligned candidates.

Story Highlights

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued a 25-page open letter to U.S. voters urging a change in America’s leadership.
The letter criticized President Trump and linked Americans’ votes to U.S. policy toward Iran and Israel.
The timing—about five weeks before the midterms—aimed to sway outcomes, according to multiple reports.
No evidence shows coordination between the Guard and U.S. unions, despite speculation about aligned rhetoric.

Foreign Military Message Targets U.S. Ballot Decisions

Reports say Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a 25-page letter to Americans on September 29, 2026. The message told voters they “empower” the U.S. government with their votes and urged them to change who holds power. Reuters reported the letter condemned President Trump’s policies and said “peaceful coexistence” was possible if U.S. policy shifted away from Israel and foreign wars. American Liberty News summarized the pitch as urging voters to remove Trump allies from office.

The Hill reported Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi presented the letter and framed U.S. voters as responsible for Washington’s next steps. Coverage described the language as a direct appeal to reject Trump’s approach and to pick leaders by so-called “criteria for good leadership”. This is not routine diplomacy. The author is a state military-security arm of Iran, which makes the outreach a formal foreign-government attempt to influence U.S. voters.

Timing Underscores Electoral Intent, But Impact Is Unknown

Outlets placed the letter’s release about five weeks before the November midterms, in the middle of conflict involving Israel and Iran-backed groups. That schedule points to an effort to shape election outcomes rather than general policy debate. Still, the record shows no data that the letter changed minds or votes. There are no polling shifts, audience metrics, or voter interviews tied to the message in the available reporting.

U.S. election-security history shows Iran runs influence efforts around elections. Federal agencies have warned that Iranian actors try to stir division and pressure targets during cycles, while noting that past operations did not alter the mechanics of voting systems. That distinction matters. Influence is messaging. Interference is breaking systems. This episode, as reported, fits influence, not technical interference.

Claims of Union Alignment Lack Evidence and Face Counterexamples

Some commentators portrayed the Guard’s message as aligning with parts of the American left. The available record does not show coordination with U.S. unions. There are no communications, filings, funding trails, or meetings linking the Guard to labor organizations in the United States. In fact, primary-source labor letters from Iranian worker groups abroad urge pressure against Iran’s regime for repressing workers and call for closing its embassies—positions that cut against regime messaging.

The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company asked for global solidarity with independent workers, not state-linked organizations or foreign meddling, and warned against reliance on any regime apparatus. The Iran Labour Confederation–Abroad urged unions to oppose the Islamic Republic’s repression and sever ties, again contradicting the idea of shared cause with the Guard’s appeal to U.S. voters. These documents do not answer every question, but they show public labor voices rejecting Tehran’s line.

What This Means for U.S. Voters and Policymakers

A state security arm of Iran told Americans how to vote, and it did so on the eve of national elections. That is a foreign influence push aimed at the U.S. ballot, even if it used open messaging rather than covert tricks. The reach and effect remain unproven, and the full original letter is not publicly available in the reporting, which limits outside review of the full text and context. Still, the thrust is clear: weaken Trump-aligned policies by changing who Americans elect.

Americans can answer in two ways. First, stay alert to messaging from foreign governments that seeks to sway our votes, whether it is friendly or hostile. Second, demand clear, lawful steps that guard speech while exposing foreign propaganda. Federal agencies have drawn the line between influence and interference; voters can draw theirs by knowing the source and voting their values, not a regime’s script.