Fact Check: Is Iran planning economic warfare to hurt Trump ahead of the 2026 midterms?

WASHINGTON, DC: Amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States, an X user claimed that Iran is planning economic warfare to hurt President Donald Trump ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections. The claim gained attention after Trump announced what he called “Economic D-Day” against Iran. He said the US would intensify economic pressure on Tehran and countries that support it. Is the claim true?

Claim: Iran is planning to damage Trump’s presidency through economic warfare

The rumor originated from an X user who claimed to have information from a senior Iranian official in Tehran. The post said, “Iran is systematically preparing to damage Trump’s presidency through economic warfare, aimed at making him lose the November midterms, per a senior Iranian official in Tehran familiar with the matter.”

The post then shared additional details about the alleged plan, “The plans include strikes on Gulf oil terminals to surge global energy prices by destroying the remaining Hormuz bypasses (Saudi Yanbu and Emirati Fujairah, total ~5.5M barrels a day), and targeting the support network behind the US-backed ‘shadow fleet’ in the Strait to fully shut it down to zero from the current ~5M barrels a day.”

The post continued by describing the alleged impact on US voters, “The official says the direct operational chain is: Crude → pump prices (2-4 week lag) → CPI → voter mood, and the economy being voters’ top issue with under 3 months to go until the midterms.”

The post ended by citing a statement attributed to Majid Shakeri, an adviser to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, “Iran must raise the tension level, focused on oil, before the midterms, and fortunately America handed over the necessary pretext. Obviously, Iran will not wait for America’s economic attack in a preemptive defense.”

Fact Check: The claim is misleading

The claim is misleading. The post combines a verified public statement with an unverified claim about Iran's alleged operational plans.

The post accurately quoted Majid Shakeri, an adviser to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. However, the detailed claims attributed to an anonymous senior Iranian official remain unverified. No credible reports have independently confirmed the alleged plans to attack Gulf oil facilities or target specific shipping routes to influence the November midterm elections.

After Trump announced what he called “Economic D-Day,” Iranian officials publicly criticized the US move and dismissed its expected impact.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described Trump’s “Economic D-Day” as a "diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."

Araghchi wrote, “Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens the global economy and sovereignty worldwide.”

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, also criticized the apparent shift in US strategy. 

In a post on X, he said, “The military war didn’t yield results, so now they’ve named the next failure ‘economic war.’ They claim Iran is on the brink of collapse and hanging by a thread, yet they beg all their allies to help them.”

These public statements show that Iranian officials have responded strongly to Trump's economic measures. But they do not confirm the anonymous claim that Iran has a detailed plan to attack oil facilities and raise energy prices to damage Trump politically before the midterm elections.