Iran Publishes Scathing Letter Hours Before Trump’s War Address to the Nation

(Al Jazeera/Alex Brandon/AP photo)

Iran on Wednesday published a letter appealing to the American people and harshly criticizing the Trump administration for starting the war.

The lengthy letter was published hours before President Donald Trump was set to give a major address to the nation. In it, the Iranians accused the Trump administration of manufacturing justification for the war. They also claimed that they had agreed to the terms of a proposed nuclear deal, only for the U.S. to back out and begin its attacks.

The letter continued:

The Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries. Even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures throughout their proud history, Iranians have consistently drawn a clear distinction between governments and the peoples they govern. This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness—not a temporary political stance.

For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts. 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.

Further down in the letter, the Iranians noted that the relationship between the two countries took a turn for the worse after the U.S.-backed coup of 1953. The letter characterized the event as an “illegal American intervention aimed at preventing the nationalization of Iran’s own resources.”

“This distrust deepened further with America’s support for the Shah’s regime,” the letter read, “its backing of Saddam Hussein during the imposed war of the 1980s, the imposition of the longest and most comprehensive sanctions in modern history, and ultimately, unprovoked military aggression—twice, in the midst of negotiations—against Iran.”

The letter also called on the American people to question their government’s true intent behind the war, asking if their interests were “truly being served” by war and suggesting that the Trump administration has gone against its “America First” agenda.

“I invite you to look beyond the machinery of misinformation—an integral part of this aggression—and instead speak with those who have visited Iran,” the letter continued. “Observe the many accomplished Iranian immigrants—educated in Iran—who now teach and conduct research at the world’s most prestigious universities, or contribute to the most advanced technology firms in the West. Do these realities align with the distortions you are being told about Iran and its people?”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!