The results of the November midterm elections could determine whether the United States maintains its current war strategy toward Iran, shifts toward de-escalation or embraces a more aggressive approach, though a continuation of the status quo — in which Congress largely defers to executive powers — remains most likely. Since the collapse of the June memorandum of understanding , the United States and Iran have settled into an ebb-and-flow conflict, as the two seek to impose economic pain in their strategies to undermine one another's governments. On Aug. 30, U.S. CENTCOM announced that it had struck rocket, artillery and mine support operations around the Strait of Hormuz on Larak Island, spurring Iranian retaliation as it fired ballistic missiles and drones towards U.S. military bases in Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan and the United Arab Emirates.