DUBAI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Iran reported three more tankers had been damaged in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, making clear that shipping would remain in peril as long as the war in the Gulf is unresolved, now that US voters have punished President Donald Trump for waging it.
The electoral rout that cost Trump's Republicans control of Congress has prompted a stark reassessment of the conflict's political cost in Washington, led by Vice President JD Vance, who said in a long social media post on Wednesday
that the war was to blame for his party's defeat.
In a mocking reply on Thursday, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Vance's opposite number at previous peace talks, accused Vance of letting Trump double down like a "losing gambler" by planning more US strikes.
If Vance believed the war was a mistake he should persuade Trump to call it off, Qalibaf said: "Skip the TED talk. Why not say this to your boss?"
Oil prices have plunged in recent days as traders wagered that Trump, chastened by voters, may be less likely to restart the strikes he launched alongside Israel as "Operation Epic Fury" in February. Prices bounced back slightly on Thursday but are down more than $20 a barrel from last week.
Iranian officials have been meeting with Qatari mediators since last week to discuss proposals to end the hostilities. But neither side has announced any breakthroughs on the major issues that have prevented any peace agreement so far.
ATTACKS ON TANKERS AT RECORD PACE
Meanwhile, attacks on tankers in the Gulf are still running close to a record pace. At least five vessels have reported incidents since Sunday, according to UK maritime security agency UKMTO, around the same rate as in October when the agency said 35 vessels were hit, the most of any month of the war.
The UKMTO reported that a vessel had been struck by two unidentified projectiles late on Wednesday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who do not typically acknowledge firing on merchant ships but say the transit route is unsafe without Tehran's consent, said two tankers had struck naval mines and another had caught fire on Thursday.
On Wednesday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said there should not be "even the slightest inclination towards submission" to the United States, which he said would remain hostile towards Iran no matter which party was in power.
'HE IS PLANNING TO BOMB IRAN'
When asked about Vance's comments on the war on Wednesday, Trump defended the decision to launch it, saying it was important to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, a justification he has repeatedly cited.
A White House adviser told Reuters that some officials and staff inside the White House viewed Vance's post as a foreign policy break from the president and a public recognition of the war's economic consequences.
But two sources told Reuters they believed Trump was still likely to order resumed hostilities.
"He is planning to bomb Iran. Don’t listen to what he’s saying. He held off because of the midterms. We asked him to hold off until the midterms," said one of the sources. The other said Trump did not have anything to lose politically now that the midterms were over.
Peacemaking efforts have revolved around the future status of the strait, a US blockade on Iranian ports, sanctions on the Islamic Republic and a resumption of negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme.
A senior Iranian official said this week that the two sides remain far apart.
Qatar said on Tuesday that the United States and Iran were committed to mediation efforts and were reviewing proposals aimed at bridging their differences, adding that there had been developments in talks with both sides.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo and Reuters Iran newsroomWriting by Angus McDowallEditing by Peter Graff)
