Is Iran war really ‘America First,’ Iranian president asks in letter to US public
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a visit to a shrine in Tehran on January 31
By Chris Lau, CNN
(CNN) — Iran’s president has written an open letter to America asking whether the Trump administration’s war with his country is putting “America First.”
“Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?,” Masoud Pezeshkian wrote in the letter, addressed “to the people of the United States of America” and posted on X late Wednesday local time, hours before US President Donald Trump gave his first national address on the Iran war.
“Is ‘America First’ truly among the priorities of the US government today?” Pezeshkian asked.
He claimed that Iran has “never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination, and never initiated any war” and that the perception of his country being a threat is “the product of political and economic whims of the powerful.”
He asserted Tehran’s actions – which have included daily drone and missile strikes that have hit civilian and military infrastructure across the Gulf – have been “legitimate self-defense.”
It was not clear whether other elements of Iran’s leadership were involved in drafting the letter. The highest authority in the Islamic Republic, supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen or heard in public since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran more than a month ago.
Pezeshkian went on to imply a distinction between the US government and its people, saying his country has been misunderstood and that “Iranian people harbour no enmity towards other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries.”
“This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness–not a temporary political stance,” he said.
In his national address after the letter was posted, Trump called the Iranian leadership “the most violent and thuggish regime on Earth” and said if the country acquired a nuclear weapon, it would become “an intolerable threat.”
Trump said that the Iran war is “nearing completion” with most of Iran’s military capabilities decimated.
Meanwhile, in his letter, Pezeshkian warned the world is at a crossroad.
“Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before,” he said.
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