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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pens an open letter to the American people, urging them to “look beyond misinformation” as US-Iran tensions escalate and war enters its fifth week.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian(via REUTERS)Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has addressed an open letter to the American public, urging citizens to reconsider prevailing narratives about Iran as military tensions with the US intensify. The message, released on social platform X, arrives at a pivotal moment—just hours before President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a national address on ongoing US military operations involving Iran.
A Call to Reject “Misinformation” in Wartime Narratives
Pezeshkian’s letter frames the current geopolitical moment as a decisive turning point, warning of the long-term consequences of continued hostility.
“Today, the world stands at a crossroads,” Pezeshkian wrote. “Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before.”
He urged Americans to question dominant portrayals of Iran, appealing for a more nuanced understanding beyond what he described as “the machinery of misinformation.” The Iranian president’s remarks come amid an ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, now stretching into its fifth week.
War, Perception and the Question of American Interests
Central to Pezeshkian’s message is a direct appeal to US citizens to evaluate whether the conflict serves their national interest. He questioned Washington’s role in the war, suggesting that the US had entered the conflict “as a proxy for Israel,” while accusing Israel of amplifying threats to divert attention from its actions in Palestinian territories.
“Is ‘America First’ truly among the priorities of the U.S. government today?” he asked, before inviting Americans to “look beyond the machinery of misinformation.”
The letter also highlighted the global contributions of Iranian expatriates, positioning them as evidence that prevailing narratives about Iran are incomplete or distorted.
Defensive Posture or Strategic Messaging?
Pezeshkian strongly rejected accusations of Iranian aggression, asserting that the country’s military posture is rooted in self-defence.
“Despite its historical and geographical advantages at various times, Iran has never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression,” he wrote.
He argued that Iran’s actions are a “measured response grounded in legitimate self-defense,” particularly in light of what he described as a growing US military presence in the region.
These claims stand in contrast to US and Israeli justifications for the strikes, which officials have characterised as defensive or preemptive, though no publicly available evidence has been presented to substantiate imminent Iranian threats.
Diplomatic Breakdown and Competing Narratives
The letter also revisits the collapse of nuclear negotiations, placing responsibility squarely on Washington.
“Iran pursued negotiations, reached an agreement, and fulfilled all its commitments,” Pezeshkian wrote. “The decision to withdraw from that agreement… were destructive choices made by the U.S. government.”
The breakdown of talks has since given way to escalating hostilities, with both sides exchanging accusations and rejecting ceasefire proposals. A recent claim by Trump that Iran had requested a ceasefire was dismissed by Tehran as “false and baseless,” further illustrating the widening gulf between the two governments.
Public Opinion and the War’s Trajectory
As the conflict deepens, domestic sentiment in the US appears increasingly sceptical. Polling suggests widespread public disapproval of the war, even as political leaders maintain support for continued military engagement.
Pezeshkian’s decision to bypass official diplomatic channels and address the American public directly reflects a calculated attempt to influence that sentiment. By framing the conflict as both avoidable and misrepresented, Tehran appears to be seeking leverage not only on the battlefield but in the arena of public opinion.
About the Author
Sayantani Biswas
Sayantani Biswas is an assistant editor at Livemint with seven years of experience covering geopolitics, foreign policy, international relations and global power dynamics. She reports on Indian and international politics, including elections worldwide, and specialises in historically grounded analysis of contemporary conflicts and state decisions. She joined Mint in 2021, after covering politics at publications including The Telegraph. <br> She holds an MPhil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University (2019), with a specialisation in postcolonial Latin American literature. Her research examined economic nationalism through Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. She also writes on political language, cultural memory and the long shadows of conflict. <br> Biswas grew up in Durgapur, an industrial town in West Bengal shaped by migration, which drew families from across India to the Durgapur Steel Plant. As the only child in a joint family, she spent years listening—almost obsessively—to her grandparents’ testimonies of struggle, fear and loss as they fled Bangladesh during the Partition of 1947. This formative exposure to lived historical memory later converged with her training in Comparative Literature, equipping her to analyse socio-economic structures and their reverberations. <br> Outside the newsroom, she gravitates towards cultural history and critical theory, returning often to texts such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour and fairness, and believes political reporting demands not only clarity and speed, but historical depth, contextual precision, and a disciplined resistance to spectacle.
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