In the 1,000-word letter, President Pezeshkian defended Iran's stances, denying it poses a threat, and blaming the US for escalating the conflict, built on Israeli “manufactured threats,” and committing actions that amount to war crimes against Iranian civilians.
The opened by establishing Iran as an ancient, historically peaceful civilization, asserting that "Iran has never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination." While Iran has never initiated a war, it has always bravely repelled its attackers, he noted.
Crucially, the letter emphasizes that Iranians harbour no enmity toward the American people, drawing a strict, culturally rooted distinction between governments and the citizens they govern.
The Iranian president argued that portraying Iran as a global threat is a complete fabrication driven by the "political and economic whims of the powerful—the need to manufacture an enemy in order to justify pressure, maintain military dominance, sustain the arms industry, and control strategic markets."
He pointed out what he described as the hypocrisy of the United States surrounding Iran with military bases, noting that Iran's military enhancements are not acts of aggression, but rather "a measured response grounded in legitimate self-defense."
Tracing the historical roots of the conflict, the letter identified the illegal, American-backed 1953 coup d’état—which overthrew Iran's democratic process to control its oil resources—as the primary turning point that sowed deep-seated distrust.
This hostility was severely compounded by US support for the Shah, backing Saddam Hussein during the 1980s war, imposing draconian sanctions, and launching unprovoked military aggression, he said.
Yet, these pressures failed and, instead, Iran has flourished independently, achieving massive leaps in literacy, higher education, healthcare, and technology, according to Pezeshkian.
Reaching out to a public largely opposed to the war
The Iranian president's letter to the American people was targeting a public that largely opposes the Trump decision to start a war against Iran.
As the war first began, NBC News polling conducted from 27 Feb. to 3 March found 52 percent of registered voters said the US should not have taken military action against the country, while 41 percent supported the action and 7 percent were not sure.
As the war dragged on, with a growing global economic crisis that hit the US public hard, sharply raising the price of gasoline at the pump for drivers and the price of fertilizers for farmers, a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 27-29 showed 60 percent of Americans disapproved of strikes against Iran, while 35 percent approved. But Republicans were still supportive, with 74 percent approving of the war and 22 percent disapproving.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 3 in 4 Americans oppose sending US troops, including a majority of Republicans, while 18 percent favor sending US troops.
'Killing Iranians and destroying their infratstructure serves who?'
Addressing the horrific human toll of recent bombings and sanctions, the Iranian president questioned whose interests are actually being served by this conflict. He challenged the American public, asking if "the massacre of innocent children, the destruction of cancer-treatment pharmaceutical facilities, or boasting about bombing a country 'back to the stone ages'" serves any real purpose beyond destroying America's global standing.
He also condemned attacks on vital infrastructure as war crimes that demonstrate Washington's "strategic bewilderment" after the US recklessly withdrew from a negotiated agreement that Iran had fully honoured.
Weeks of US and Israeli airstrikes have killed and wounded thousands of Iranians, destroyed tens of thousands of residential and commercial units, and damaged or destroyed tens of hospitals, roads, and factories.
‘Tel Aviv manipulated Washington’
The letter explicitly links American aggression to Israeli manipulation, tapping into an eerie conclusion reached by a growing number of Americans that the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had used the Trump administration to achieve his goals in Iran and not the US’s goals.
The Iranian president pointedly asked: "Is it not true that Israel, by manufacturing an Iranian threat, seeks to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians? Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar—shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?"
Pezeshkian used this to question if "America First" is truly a priority for the US government anymore.
In closing, the Iranian president invites Americans to look past the "machinery of misinformation" and recognize the true nature of the Iranian people.
Warning that the world stands at a critical crossroads between engagement and futile confrontation, he concluded with a reminder of what he described as Iran's historical endurance: "Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures—resilient, dignified, and proud."
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