‘We are not your enemy’: Iran President Pezeshkian’s open letter to Americans after Trump speech

In the rare direct communication to Americans, Pezeshkian insisted that “the Iranian people harbour no enmity” toward Americans. That framing was central to the strategy. Rather than engaging the White House, Tehran is attempting to speak straight to the American public.

The timing underscores the intent. The letter was released just as Trump doubled down on his hardline position in a national address, claiming that the US military had decimated Iran and would soon launch a strike that would send Iran to the “Stone Age”.

Iran ‘threat’ manufactured: Pezeshkian

Pezeshkian’s message sought to challenge Trump’s narrative that Iran is finished. In the letter, the Iran President questioned whether the war actually serves American interests, asking if continued military action benefits citizens or merely sustains geopolitical ambitions. The Iranian president also took a potshot at Trump’s “America First” doctrine, suggesting it is being undermined by prolonged conflict.

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At the heart of the letter was the broader accusation that the image of Iran as a “threat” is manufactured to justify military pressure and maintain global dominance. “Portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts,” Pezeshkian wrote.

He added: “Such a perception is the product of 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. In such an environment, if a threat does not exist, it is invented.”

The Israel factor

Perhaps the most politically charged section of the letter is Pezeshkian’s claim that the United States is acting as a “proxy” for Israel. He suggested that American lives and taxpayer money are being drawn into a conflict that primarily serves another country’s strategic interests.

He urged Americans to “look beyond the machinery of misinformation and instead speak with those who have visited Iran”.

At the same time, the letter warns that continued confrontation will only deepen instability and prolong suffering; not just in the region, but globally.