Can Iran hurt Trump at ballot box? Tehran’s new war strategy explained

Iran is stepping up pressure on the United States less than two months before the US midterm elections, with analysts saying Tehran hopes to increase the political and economic costs of the war for President Donald Trump and weaken his position at home.More than six months after the conflict began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran is taking a more confrontational approach instead of moving towards diplomacy. Trump, who has been pushing for an end to the war as the November 3 midterms approach, said on Wednesday: "I think the war will end immediately after the election" because Iran "can't hold out any longer".Iran, however, has expanded a prohibited zone in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route that normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.